Perfect Stories?

My author friends and I love to write. When we meet together to critique each other's writing, each of us has spent long hours since our last meeting spinning story lines. But our words are far from perfect. And we often read rewrites. Why? Because a writer doesn't get it right the first time. Our first drafts sound disjointed, lacking the smooth flow of ideas and the pluck of just the right word. The key to good writing is rewriting. I've been rewriting Penned Without Ink for six years!

Unlike me--or any other author--God writes perfect stories. He is perfect. He is faultless and whole. Only God qualifies as the ultimate "author and perfecter of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

The events surrounding our car crash in 2003 didn't seem to me to be a "perfect story."  How does the dark side of life fit with God's perfect ways? I'd rather embrace the miracles, the healings, and the transformed relationships, wouldn't you?

Instead, problems often overwhelm us, and we struggle with disappointment, pain, and unanswered questions. Has God forgotten us?

As the years have slipped by, I'm learning that my perfect plotline has more to do with God's character than with my circumstances. More to do with His loving consistent involvement in the midst of unsettling situations than with my idea of resolution. More to do with the God who watches and weighs all that happens, even when I can't see Him.

A.W. Tozer writes, "To the child of God, there is no such thing as an accident. . . . Accidents may indeed appear to befall him and misfortune stalk his way; but . . . we cannot read the secret script of God's hidden providence . . ." (We Travel an Appointed Way, p. 1)

Long ago, King David etched this timeless truth onto parchment: "The Lord will perfect that which concerns me" (Psalm 138:8). The word perfect carries the idea of complete. Another translation puts it this way, "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me . . ."

So, what's your story today? Are you a little discouraged? Disappointed? Apprehensive? Remember, the perfect Master Writer has committed Himself to complete His perfect work in each of us. He desires us to trust Him with our life stories because, unlike any earthbound writer, God writes perfect stories . . . even when they take place in the fog on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

*Excerpts from Chapter Two, Penned Without Ink: Trusting God to Write Your Story.

Penned Without Ink, to be released September 26, is available in paperback or Kindle on amazon.

Photos from bing.com/images