I love to read. When I was young and the book mobile came to our house, I would load up with arms full of books and devour them like finest chocolate. Seriously! Once I married and had kiddos they took up lots of my “free” time. Reading books just for fun became a thing of the past. Now I am very selective in what I read, mostly reading snippets from books that catch my eye.
All this to say – this morning God asks me and you a question: What if we could only read one chapter out of a book? We’d have access to the titles of the chapters, but we could only read one.
Oh beloved, your life is like a novel. Many chapters are within the covers. Not every chapter is good. In fact some chapters have scary titles! We want the love story chapters. God allows the crucible of suffering chapters, the mourning of life chapters, the loss chapters and more. The final chapter, though, has much insight for all that each chapter contained. Most books, the good ones, end with the blessings in spite of the suffering.
This is your life beloved. Hand written by the Lord. Even in your mess up chapters you are still able to read on. In the most chaotic, messy, unimaginable chapters of life, you don’t stop there. Don’t dwell on the former things, the Lord says. Don’t live in one chapter of your life and make that the main story. There is much more to your life than the worst things that have happened. Many people live their whole story rewriting the worst chapter over and over. But you are different! The chapter on surviving is followed by thriving. You’re not the sum of what you feel might be a horror story of life. You are going to go through what you go through and on to the next chapter and you will see God’s hand of deliverance throughout your story.
God loves you and He’s for you. He writes your life out so beautifully because He cares about your magnificently. Run to Him this morning and praise Him for keeping your story going. And then live in the Light of the end of both His story and yours – knowing that your life is hidden in Christ, filled with Holy Spirit and headed for absolute victory when you hit the last chapter of your life!
Isaiah 43:18 Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Psalm 139:16-17 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered.
Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Psalm 139:16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.
#lifestory #godwritesyourstory #youareloved #allaboutjesus
Rebekah Beene 