Nearly every fantasy story has an unlikely hero. The hero always appears very average but is given a gift, a secret, a power that helps him or her face evils and overcome them. No one really considers this person a potential hero; that’s what makes the hero “unlikely.” But by the end of the story, he or she has learned how to harness the special gift and vanquish the foe.
Why does this story arc resonate with us so profoundly? Because it’s our story. We were born into a broken world as inevitably broken people. But there’s a gift, a secret, a power that helps us overcome—if we can find it, embrace it, and learn to wield it. Like the heroes of fantasy novels, we also encounter enormous obstacles, but we are rescued and given everything we need to rise up and rescue others.
The biblical story portrays this as resurrection power, an entirely new life. Paul wrote of it as having a priceless treasure within our very earthen vessel. We are jars of clay with a hidden gift (2 Corinthians 4:7)—the fullness of God himself inside. However latent or obscured it may seem at times, it’s there from the moment we first believed, and by faith it comes to the surface. We are heroes learning to step into the fullness of our story.
As a believer, that’s who you really are—a hero waiting to happen. Yes, you may appear perfectly average on the outside, but on the inside, you contain resurrection power and the life of God himself. His power shows up in this world primarily through those who know they carry it. Be one of them. That’s the story you were created to live.
