Don't tell me I'm the only one who hears "God is the master builder, He is building me" from The Donut Man in my head.
Never mind. I know I'm the only one.
ANYWAY. I am SO excited to have the lovely M.C. Kennedy on my blog today! She has put together SUCH an amazing and inspiring post I know y'all will love! In case y'all missed it, I had the opportunity to interview her back in June, so y'all check out our Q&A HERE!
Now, without further ado...
God as the Master Author
by M. C. Kennedy
I was told that I could write about pretty much anything I wanted for this post. Which is
simultaneously a lovely dream and a nightmare (how can I choose one of the many options
floating around my brain???). But after some contemplation, I’ve decided to share with y’all a
few of the ways writing has helped me learn more about God, being able to relate to Him as the Great Author of the world’s story.
As a fantasy author, one storywriting skill I’ve had to learn is that of worldbuilding. This is the process by which we (somewhat insane) authors create a whole new world out of nothing but imagination (and a good deal of borrowing from history and other fantasy authors, but who’s counting?). Worldbuilding can be intimidating. There’s a lot to it that we just don’t think about at first: we have to consider the physical properties of the world, determine where the water supply comes from, create histories and major battles and world-changing events, examine the ecosystem, develop a language… The list goes on and on.
Many times, I’m overwhelmed with “worldbuilding fatigue,” and I have to take a break for a few days before diving back into it. But when I have to pause and take a breath, it gives me the
opportunity to compare my world to the real one in which we live. When I do that, I’m in awe of
how beautifully every facet of our universe works together. A world is an incredibly complicated
thing to create. And yet our great Creator launched our world into existence with a single word.
He holds it together by His own immeasurable power, keeping everything running by the simple fact of His existence. My attempts at worldbuilding are so feeble compared to those of the Master Worldbuilder! And yet He has created me, and now I in imitation of Him create things of my own. My writing, my world creation, is just one of many ways I can worship the Author of my own story.
Another thing God has taught me about Himself through my writing is that of His sovereignty. As the author of a story, I have total control over the plot, the characters, everything. I know how the story will begin, how it will end, and what will happen in between. I allow my characters to experience hardships because I know they will be the better for it in the end. I am not afraid for them, because I know what I have planned for them.
This is exactly how God relates to us! From the beginning of time, He has planned out the story of the world. He is in complete control; every event, every person, every moment fits perfectly into His master plan, all heading towards the triumphant ending when Christ will return and claim His people for His own. He is not afraid for the state of the world; how can He be, when He not only knows the ending but in fact wrote it from before the foundation of the world? He allows hardships to come into our lives not because He is cruel or because He cannot stop them from happening, but rather because He wants to grow us through those hardships. Like characters in a story, He is stripping away our flaws and helping us grow, making us into
someone better than we were when our story began.
Finally, the last big thing God has used writing to teach me is that of His plan for the world. This ties into His sovereignty, but it focuses more on God’s skill as an author. I’m definitely an outliner. I like to say that I write the story in the outline stage and then tell it in the actual
drafting stage. I don’t want just a vague impression of where the story is going; I want a play-by-play map detailing the important plot points and illustrating how the characters get from Point A to Point B to Point Z.
In a much more incredible way, God has also outlined all of history, from its very beginning to its very end. He exists outside of space and time, and therefore He is already present in the
future. He is constantly at work in the world, turning all things towards the perfection of His
plan. He knows the key moments that need to happen for the plot to progress, and He knows
exactly when to set them into motion.
For an example, let’s take a look at the story of redemption. It begins at the Inciting Event, when God creates the world and sets the plot in motion. The Key Event, the true introduction of the plot, is the creation of Adam and Eve. And their descent into sin is the First Plot Point, the point of no return in which they and the whole world are thrust into the great story of redemption. The story progresses over the next several thousand years, with the entire Old Testament pointing towards a single event: the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This is the Midpoint of God’s great story: the event to which all other parts of the story have been leading, the moment after which no other part of the story will be the same again. We are now living in the second half of the Second Act, heading towards the Third Plot Point, when all the world will appear to come crashing down and Satan will seem to have won. But that will not be the end, for the Climax is yet to come. At that point, Christ will return in all His glory, and He will defeat Satan once for all. God will create a new heaven and a new earth, ushering us as His people into the glorious Resolution, where we will live with Him forever and ever.
It’s pretty cool when you look at the Bible in that light.
As God’s children, we have the privilege of imitating our Father as we create stories that mirror His great one. That’s not to say that only Christians can write, of course; there are plenty of authors out there who don’t know God! But we who do know our Maker can understand how
truly remarkable it is to create our own worlds, our own stories. Our creation is special because
we use it to worship our Creator.
“We make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.”—J. R. R. Tolkien
about the author
M. C. Kennedy is a self-proclaimed nerd with a deep love for the Lord and for fantasy. She enjoys nothing more than escaping from the real world into the realms of her imagination. When she's not rambling through fanciful forests, you can hunt her down at her website (mckennedyauthor.com), or her Facebook page (M. C. Kennedy, Author).
I absolutely LOVE how M.C. walked us through all the ways writing has taught her about God and how God truly is the master Author! How have you noticed this in your own life? How do your hobbies and passions teach you more about God? Let us know the comments below!
I'd never stopped to mull on that before. He built our world and he knows us just like a writer does their book! It is amazing how writers build a world from just their thoughts!
Wow, that was a beautiful post!!! (And that quote by J. R. R. Tolkien is one of my favorites!)
Thanks so much for sharing! 😄