When God Writes your Story

I once heard a pastor ask his congregation to turn to Acts chapter 29.  He received a lot of puzzled looks as people opened their Bibles and found that there are only 28 chapters in the book of Acts.  What the pastor said next had a profound impact on my life. He said acts 29 is your story. What would the Bible say about you?

There are many stories in the Bible: David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion’s den, Noah and the ark—Queen Esther, Ruth, the three Hebrew boys.  When we read these stories we have to keep in mind that these were real people facing desperate situations, just like you, just like me. Many of the stories end victoriously, as champions of the faith emerge, but other stories end tragically with people’s lives being destroyed.

So, the question remains: how will your story end?  Will your story be one of faith and obedience or rebellion and wickedness?  Will your story end in honor or shame?  Job walked through shame and David through the valley of the shadow of death, but their stories didn’t end that way. The Bible says that the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning and that Job died being old and full of days. The Bible calls David a man after God’s own heart.

You may be walking through shame and humiliation now, but your story does not have to end in disgrace.  Will your name be written in the lamb’s book of life?  Will you be included in the hall of faith?  Heaven is recording our stories as we write them with the choices we make.

So, how do we make a great story?  There are two scriptures that set the standard for my story. The first is Psalm 1 verses 2 and 3: “but his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he mediate day and night.  And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”  That’s the kind of story I want to have.

The other scripture that I live by is Psalm 101.  Starting at verse 2 it says: “I will behave myself wisely and in a perfect way.  I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.  I will set no wicked thing before my eyes.  A froward heart shall depart from me.  I will not know a wicked person.”  Now that’s good counseling, and you didn’t have to pay an arm and leg for it.

We all have a story to tell and God has given us the right to choose how our stories will end.  He’s also given us his Word to tell us how our stories can end.  Make yours a great story, one obedient step at a time.

From heart to yours,

Kathy