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January 30, 2008

God's Not Done With Your Story

by Shana Schutte

When I was a little, my sister and I huddled behind the bushes next to our front porch and heckled the woman across the street while she cuddled with her boyfriend on her front steps by yelling, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage." We chanted repeatedly (and screamed) until she probably wanted to march across the street and twist our ears.

I don't remember much about her except that she was a young, single mother of a newborn son. I imagine she was struggling to make ends meet while she lived with her parents.

I wonder if our chanting ever made her think about how yes, she knew the order of things, except that for her, it just hadn't gone that way.

Life is often like that, isn't it? We know how things "should" go, how we'd like life to turn out, but no matter how much we try to arrange for what we want, things often don't go that way. Whether it's because of our own sin, someone else's sin against us or just because we live in a world full of foibles, we don't get what we want.

In this ache of what has not turned out how we'd like, we have two choices: we can press into Christ and let Him redefine our story with His grace, or we can demand our own way. Unfortunately, if we choose the latter, we will end up holding nothing but our tears. The way to healing in the midst of disappointment is always surrender.

For the young woman who sat on the doorstep, yes, it's true, she didn't get her, "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage," but God hadn't finished writing her story. He still had more to tell. She later went on to marry the young man in the car who turned out to be a loving father for her son.

So if you are in the middle of a life story that hasn't turned out how you wanted--let go and let God do His work in rewriting what could have been a tragedy into something redemptive. With Him, there is always hope for something better. As He has promised, He will take anything and use it for our good and for His glory (Romans 8:28). If you don't believe it, does it mean God won't do it? Not necessarily, but we'll miss out on the joy of watching Him work with our eyes wide open in faith--and we'll be miserable. Or, we can believe that He will do something new and good even from our greatest disappointments and we can experience joy.

Which will you choose?

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland...(Isaiah 43:19)

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