Chapters of Your Life

Have you ever tried to pick up a novel and start reading in the middle? It doesn’t make sense. You don’t know the characters. You don’t know what has happened before. And you can’t figure out much of the plot. Those earlier chapters were important to know the full story.

That is true of our lives and our ministries. My friend Dr. Jim Denison (denisonforum.org) talked about this in a recent blog. He referenced philosopher Elton Trueblood who said the present chapter is made possible by the previous one and leads to the next.

His point for us today? Be present where you are, remembering that all of God there is, is in this moment. But also look for ways God is redeeming the present for the eternal.

In our Old Testament Bible readings, Judy and I often comment about those Israelites who obvious suffered from short-term memory loss. God had miraculously saved them from the Egyptian oppression, delivered them safely through the Red Sea, and met their every need. But that wasn’t enough. They forgot the previous chapters of their lives. It is as if they hadn’t even read them. They whined about the food. They complained about water. They lost faith in Moses’ ability to lead them through the wilderness. It seems the Israelites wasted the present moments with God by forgetting His power, His provision, and His protection in the past.

[blockquote author=”Hebrews 13:8 NLT” link=”” target=”_blank”]The writer of Hebrews penned one of the most powerful and encouraging verses in the New Testament. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.[/blockquote]

What we know of Christ’s love in the past is also present with us today. What we have seen of His faithful guidance is as true today as then. What has been written in the past chapters of your life, where Christ showed up and delivered you, can happen in the present chapter, also.

And… all of these things build toward what the Lord wants to do in the days to come. Think of the price that was paid by the Israelites for forgetting God and how He had cared for them in the past. They wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. Those who left Egypt didn’t make it to the land the Lord had promised. They missed the big blessings the Lord had for His people.

You are in the middle of the “book” that is being written. Your life. Don’t forget the early chapters of God’s faithfulness, sometimes through great hardships or storms. And don’t miss the wonder of His presence now in these present days. For then, the future chapters of your life will be filled with amazing things that point people to Jesus.

And we will find our faithful Lord at every turn of the page, right up to the final chapter… the final page of the story of our life.