Your Life: The Movie

I would venture to say your life has a script. But what if you had some say in what script that was? What if there was a better script for your life than the one you’re currently following.

Maybe you like your script.

That’s fine. You don’t have to change it.

But maybe, just maybe there are some things you’re not happy about. Like the other actors. The set. Maybe even the director.

Is there anything you can do, or are you doomed to say boring lines that someone else wrote?

Think for a second. If your life were turned into a movie, would it be interesting to watch? Would it be entertaining? Would it have beautiful moments? Ups and downs?

I’m sure there are moments in your life where this is true.

But you know when you see an inspiring movie, or better yet, an inspiring life and you tell yourself, “I want to be like that.”

There’s truth there.

There’s something God-given about seeing something good. Something amazing and incredible and wanting that for our own life.

Wanting to copy it.

Most of us try to be some version of our best self. We copy the things we like.

But what if we don’t really know what we like? What if we don’t really know what brings us contentment?

Some of us feel lost.

Maybe not all the time. But there are moments. There are frustrations where we don’t know what the heck we’re doing. There are addictions that we want to break, unhealthy relationships we want to get out of, dead end jobs we want to quit, mean comments we want to ignore.

Why couldn’t our story be more like Superman’s?

Where bullets bounce off our chest like nothing.

I don’t know about bullets.

But I know evil bounced off of Jesus’ chest.

Maybe that’s enough.

Maybe we don’t need to be safe from the drama.

A movie would be pretty lame without any drama.

Maybe instead of wishing that the roller coaster would slow down we could ask for our hearts to slow down.

Maybe instead of apathy and boredom we could ask for a script that makes our hearts speed up.

I believe God wrote the story of the world.

But you’re a co-writer with Him in the story of your life inside the story of the world.

You have more freedom, more power than you know.

When you move from busy, to living in the moment, it’s a huge shift. All of a sudden there’s a spotlight on you and what you think, say, and do seems to matter more.

Imagine the beauty of living kindly one second at a time.

When you live one second at a time it’s much easier to love your neighbor because that’s the only task at hand. There aren’t ever 10 things on your plate. There’s only 1.

So this life movie of yours.

How do you audition for it?

You don’t have to. You’ve already got the part.

You’re actually already playing the role.

You are an actor whether you know it or not.

What are some elements that make a movie good?

Drama (Done. Life has tons of it.)

Characters (Done. Your friends, your family, the people you brush shoulders with. The people you influence and who influence you. And you do influence people. More than you may realize.)

Set (Done. Where you live and the places you go.)

Character description (Done. Your personality and what you do with your time. Jobs and hobbies.)

Everything is constantly changing.

Perhaps subtle shifts. Perhaps drastic movements.

A story is being told.

We are moving from scene to scene.

There are times you yell out, “CUT!”

It’s all wrong. Something’s not right. Maybe something small, maybe something big…But something’s not right.

We all know it. And there are moments when it’s really in our face.

Are you trying to control the show or are you letting the director?

Are you doing the best you can to stay in the scene or are you forgetting your lines because you’re thinking about the next page of dialogue?

In life there’s no word for word script that we can hold in our hands. We can’t predict what will happen.

It’s more like improv theater than memorized shakespeare.

But there is a stage and you’re on it.

The cameras are pointing at you.

Are you going to listen with all you have?

Are you going to give all you have?

Are you going to be a vital part of the best and only story ever made?

I think real life is more exciting than a movie.

A movie can be a wonderful burst, but life is so inextricably, intricately, more inter-connected.

Can we be creative enough in the space of our lives to support God in injecting moments with joy?

For us and for others.

Imagine every mundane activity being infused with color.

Fill in the details.

Are you “just” a waiter? No! You have a mission and you’re undercover as a waiter.

Are you out of a job? No you’re not! You love animals, so you’re a volunteer pet masseuse.

Do you make cold calls? No you don’t. You make bold calls. You make silly faces because they can’t see you on the other line.

Is the other actor on stage with you, aka the person you’re having a conversation with, boring you? No they’re not! You’re boring yourself! No one is stopping you from adding background music in your mind or from making comedic comments and crazy connections inside your head so you’re inspired to be an engaged listener.

That’s right, make it up.

Enjoy.

Have fun.

Be weird.

Be honest.

Be real.

The invisible things we think become the ink on the script.

Why not make it colorful?