 If nature hates a vacuum, then no story exists without a setting to provide context. Entire genres of literature are formed around settings and how people react to them. Stories set in small towns might have quirky characters. Stories set in jungles might be adventurous. Stories set in urban locations might be edgy. Your story, then, has a setting – a backdrop against which everything plays out. As our Author writes, He calls us out of the setting where our story has unfolded, leading us into something new. In every great story, the protagonist leaves a familiar setting, perhaps a location, a relationship, or even a mindset. The greatest stories of our lives are painted on the backdrop of the unknown. It can be frightening to leave one setting for another – to answer the call of the wild, even when we are unhappy in our current setting – but it is only by doing so that we allow our story to unfold. Stories that play out forever in the same setting are stories that linger at the threshold between the dynamic and the stagnant. That threshold becomes a place of quicksand where untold stories collect and are held captive. If our stories are to unfold, we must have the confidence to walk into the setting that our Author has prepared for us, resting in the confidence that the pen never leaves His hand and He knows exactly what He is doing.
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 A great story often has at least one of two things: a great plot or great characters. Your story has both. But it features you as its primary character. You, with all of your strengths and weaknesses, attributes and flaws, are the central character of your narrative. The fact that it is your story makes it special and different from every other story on the planet. You are an individual – completely unique – which means your story is completely unique. The Population Reference Bureau estimates that roughly 108 billion people have lived since God first created man in His own image. And the amazing thing about that is that there has never been anyone like you. No one has ever had your exact DNA structure. No one has ever had your exact personality. No one has ever had your exact experiences. The brilliant Dr. Seuss once wrote: “Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you.” There never has been and never will be another you. Sometimes we can look at others’ lives and stories and wish we could trade. However, Your purpose is completely unique – only you can fulfill it. Your Author has tailor made your story for you. No other character can fill your role. You are the hero around which the plot revolves. What will you do with your story?
 After Hebrews 11, a series of stories of the heroes of faith, comes Hebrews 12. The second verse gives a beautiful description of Jesus. He is called “the author and finisher of our faith.” This tells us something vitally important about our stories: they not only have an author but they also have a finisher. An author often starts out with a basic plot in mind for his characters. He has a general idea of who they are and how their story will unfold. However, as pretty much any fictional author will tell you, characters seem to develop minds of their own throughout the writing process, taking the story in a direction the author did not intend. When this happens, some authors force their characters to abide by the original plan, resulting in a forced story. Other authors cannot figure out what to do with their characters and so they abandon the story altogether. And then there are the other authors – the authors who recognize that their characters have done something different with the plot but who are gifted enough to keep writing the story from where the characters are in the moment. They do not give up on the story or the characters. We have an Author like this. You see, He is not just an Author – He is also a finisher. No matter how your life has unfolded, He will not give up on your story. An author may start a story but a finisher sees it through until the end. How fortunate our stories are to have both.
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