Our stories all begin somewhere.  They are the places we go to in our minds, the once long ago’s where our lives took a turn — we met someone, we started a job, moved to a new city… A seismic shift happened and we were not the same.  Whatever it was, our worlds expanded.  We felt alive, invincible even.

There is a stake we put in the ground and from that spot, we claimed our identity.  We tied to it ribbons, roles we would assume and become — wife, mother, friend, daughter.  We wore our job titles, our accomplishments, our relationships, like medals on our chests because we were thriving.  Because we were happy.  Because tomorrow had nothing but bright sunny days and pink roses.

Here, we see God through grateful eyes, thankful for His blessings.  He is benevolent, kind, full of mercy and glad tidings. Not all things are perfect, but they are good.

Every story has a conflict.  Sometimes it’s a reoccurring theme.  Maybe we struggle inwardly with a fear, a weakness, a past.  Maybe it’s an illness. Maybe it’s someone we love who wanders so close to the precipice of fate, that we spend our days holding our breath, reciting the litany of prayers that will keep them safe, that will keep them with us.   

We try and we try to maintain that stake in the ground, not wanting to uproot it or change.  We give it our all to protect it, fighting to keep all that we think we are anchored to it.  But it splits, it frays, it dislodges.  Suddenly, life — our stories — are taking a turn and we feel exposed, vulnerable, scrambling to find our worth when all our pretty ribbons have been untied.

Our faith is challenged.  We wonder about God as we see Him, now suspect.  We resign ourselves to believing He has forsaken us.  We think our stories no longer can have a happily ever after.  We might even think we no longer know how or what to pray for.  

I wonder if you have ever wandered in the valley of broken dreams.  I know I have.

“Hope deferred makes the heart sick” Proverbs 13:12

Our life stories have so many chapters.  But what I have come to know, is that God is the author and finisher of our faith.  He doesn’t want us to dwell on where we’ve been, but on Him.  He knows the plot. He’s always taking us through things because He wants to show us what’s ahead.  He is a God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  He wants us to know that our stories have a resurrection. That He is alive. That we are alive.  

Our tests become our testimonies.  

We have to turn the page. God is always transforming us, our situations, our circumstances.  There are plot twists and characters and surprises, both good and bad, that are a part of life.  He is the stake that we are to tie our identities, because He knows us, loves us, never leaves us.  

There is always more to the story.

It’s easy to feel stuck.  It’s easy to let our present day circumstances define us.  We resign ourselves to things that are not who we are, but what we must deal with.  This is not our ending.  This is just where we get our mojo back.  This is just where the music cranks up and we find a reservoir of resolve that we thought we had lost.  This is where we rise up, seize the day, remember that God is for us, and march into our tomorrows expectant that He has it all worked out for us.

Because He does.

Do you believe in the possibility of what comes next?  Do you believe in new beginnings and brand new days?

We write our stories by our faith, by our willingness to trust, by our looking forward and not behind.  We must put down the pens of fear and rejection and brokenness.

He knows the end from the beginning.  We can’t skip the scenes in-between because they make us, they fortify us, they help us see what we are made of.  

Keep reading.  Don’t give up.  Your story is beautiful.  You are beautiful. 

Believe it.  The best part is coming up.  

It’s already written.  

And it’s a masterpiece.