Well-Crafted Stories

When a friend asked me to read the first three chapters (and the synopsis) of a fiction book she was writing, I gladly agreed. One morning I curled up with the 40+ pages and enjoyed a “good read.” Because I liked the two main characters she’d created and cheered for them as they grappled with painful emotions of the present (and the past), I was sorry when I reached the end of chapter three. I wanted MORE details about about how they’d find the true bliss I knew (from reading the synopsis) the author had planned for them. 

As I read my friend’s book, I recalled how much I’d enjoyed my few (and feeble) attempts at writing fiction. It’s really fun to bring characters to life and to choose what happens to them. I do a similar kind of thing when I create images with my camera. I get to choose what goes into the frame—and what doesn't.

God does that same kind of thing—only in a far, far greater way. As Max Lucado points out in his excellent book, When God’s Story Becomes Your Story, each life is “a crafted narrative written by a good God who is working toward your supreme good.”

God’s already written the book of my life—and yours, Dear Reader! We’ll just have to wait to “read” the remaining chapters!