By Betty Slade
PREVIEW Columnist
If life is a book, then God is the author. I trust he knows where this story will take us, whether I do or not. If you take a peek at the last chapter, however, you will come to know that the ending is more beautiful than anything we can imagine. But, as I flip through the pages of yesterday, today and tomorrow, there are certainly some nail-biting chapters written therein.
I have a tendency of reading more between the lines than I should. I’ve even been known to draw understanding that is vastly different from the dialogue at hand. I don’t know why I do what I do, especially when I know that my jumping between words usually leaves me disappointed.
As a writer, one of the first things we learn is that we need to have conflict in order to keep a reader turning the page. Today’s book has that and more. In fact, there seems to be an increase of conflict mid-paragraph. I don’t think I have ever seen so many on-the-edge-of-my-seat plot twists.
Our media sources have made this volume of our lives a best seller. We are intrigued by this thriller, shocked by the horror and have been educated, entertained, humored and saddened. And that is just the prologue.
I can’t be alone when I say there are days when I just don’t want to pick up this book. But as I read, I truly can’t put it down.
My son says, “We are living in exciting times. They aren’t always great, they aren’t always horrible, but everything seems in its perfect place and right on schedule.”
I suppose he is right. We have to keep in mind that God’s story is written from a perspective that defies understanding. And to that end, trust the journey and its collective parts to bring us to a perfect conclusion.
David told us in the Psalms that God saw us before he created us. Before we ever opened our eyes the first time, he already knew the very number of our days. We were written as characters of his story, before we even cracked its spine.
There is a phrase that caught my attention from Romans 8:27, TPT: “The Holy Spirit passionately pleads before God for us, in perfect harmony with God’s plan and our destiny.”
It is safe to say that these crazy times are in perfect harmony with God’s plan and His destiny for us. If we understand life as a story, with a beginning, middle and end, we know every page has to be in sequence if we are to make it to the last chapter.
Yes, even a story with conflicts, the likes of what we see around us today, have their perfect purpose.
With that in mind, to trust the direction our story takes us is to accept a belief in the one who wrote it.
How comforting to be able to trust in the words written in the book Jeremiah lived, when he reminded us that God has plans for us, with peace and with a future.
Final brushstroke: You can pick up a book, read the inside flap, then put it down passing judgment on content you have no knowledge of. Or, you can pick up a book and read it cover to cover, with eager anticipation for where the story will lead. Either way, we know that “His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Embrace the unfolding story that is our daily walk, because this great mystery is no match for the spectacular epilogue that has yet to be read.
Readers’ comments
Send your comments to betty@bettyslade.com.
