Beautiful Story – In Its Time
I enjoy reading, and depending upon the book’s genre, reading for me is usually one of two things – educational or entertaining. Reading often helps me relax and settle my soul as well.
When I want something “restful” to read, which is regularly the case these days as my brain continues to heal, I turn to an old standby … brothers Frank and Joe Hardy. I have the complete set of the original fifty-eight Hardy Boys books. Throughout the years I have read each one more than once, but, when I need to read and not think too much, I grab one of their mysteries and dive in. The characters in the series were created by Edward Stratemeyer while the books themselves were ghostwritten by several authors, under the pen name Franklin W. Dixon. (Stratemeyer’s syndicate also published various other fictional books for young readers, including Nancy Drew and the Bobbsey Twins.)
What kinds of books do you like to read? Fiction or non-fiction? Are you particular to one genre, or do you read a wide spectrum of genres? If you read non-fiction, you hope that it is based upon factual information and not simply the author’s interpretation or revision of those facts. If it is fiction that you enjoy, you probably have your favorite authors, those storytellers who keep you turning the pages. Most fiction authors agree that a good story needs to have five basic components to make it a compelling and entertaining read – characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution.
A good writer also knows that there is a real art to ending a story. There are six general types of endings used by most writers – resolved, unresolved, expanded, unexpected, ambiguous, tied. The endings are mostly self-explanatory, but to quickly explain two; an expanded ending is just another way to describe the story’s epilogue while tied simply means the story ends where it began; it has come full circle.
God is writing a story, a beautiful story. Every human being is in His story. His story is full of twists and turns, ups and downs, joys and tears, seemingly impossible situations, scenery changes, mystery, and so much more. We are in the middle of God’s story, and isn’t it true, just as we sometimes judge a book or its author after only reading hallway through, we tend to question God as to why He has chosen to write the story in the fashion that He has.
God’s story has a happy, beautiful, and inspiring ending. We will not be left wondering about how the main character will survive or lamenting over the fact that the villain seems to get away with everything. In the end, it will be clear that God’s story is the best story ever written.
The first eight verses of Ecclesiastes 3 are the well-known “There is a time for everything” statements arguing for God’s sovereignty. Pop culture knows these eight statements well, as they are also found in the song “Turn, Turn, Turn (To Everything There is a Season)” written by Pete Seeger and popularized by the Byrds.
And not only is it true that God has a season for everything, another truth can be found a few verses later – “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (v.11a). So today, trust God in the middle of the story. Whatever it is that you are facing today, if you trust in the goodness and kindness of God, you can have confidence that God is not done with your story and that your story will be a beautiful story… in its time.
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