Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6
When I was a kid, I read books at night with a flashlight under the covers because I couldn’t wait to get to the end of the story. As an adult I still read at night when a book is too gripping to put down, and the result is circles under my eyes. What’s amazing is that we can close a book or pause a movie and then jump back into it.
Life is a like a story.
Our lives are like novels or, more accurately, collections of stories. One chapter leads to another, and the further we get, the greater the suspense, and the more we want to learn the end of the story.
Yes, we know that God is actively accomplishing his purposes all over the world. Closer to home, he’s at work in the stories of those we love and in our own story. The direction of the plot may seem obvious. Or not. We wonder what will happen next and beyond what we can read today.
How will it turn out?
The difference of course between a story and real life is the difference between fiction and nonfiction. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction, and fiction has to be believable.
In real life we can’t peek at the end of the story ahead of time. We pray for wisdom, work hard, and hope for the best, trusting God for the outcome of each thread, each concern. Someday we’ll see everything clearly, with new eyes. In the meantime, we can be confident that God the Author – who is deepening our characters, introducing challenges, developing themes, and preparing surprises beyond our wildest expectations – will complete his work in us for his glory.
Amen.
Posted on June 16, 2015
Norma Nill 