Plot Twist: Trusting God to Write Your Best Story

“Suddenly”……..

“Immediately”…………

“And then, out of nowhere”………………..

These are the types of words and phrases we encounter when something unexpected happens in a story line—many times in a book or during a movie or a play. Just when we (the audience) thought we knew what was going on in the story line, the writer surprises us with what’s known as a “plot twist”. Sometimes, the plot twists make us cheer; sometimes it makes us uneasy because it goes against the predictability of things. Either way, one thing is for sure, these plot twists change the entire dynamics of the story.

There are plenty of so called “plot twists” in the Bible. Stories in which we “thought” we knew exactly what was going on, or what was bound to happen. Then BOOM! Here comes that plot twist.  We are stunned. Eyes wide, jaw dropped. “Wait, what just happened?” everyone thinks. Not what…who?

GOD happened.

The 100 year old+ couple—Abraham and Sarah. Surely, they were too old to conceive a child, right? We just knew they were destined NOT to be parents….PLOT TWIST— God gave them a son and crowned Abraham father of many nations.

Saul was known for hating and persecuting Christians…PLOT TWIST— he became the Apostle Paul and ended up teaching others of Jesus everywhere he went. (NOTE: We have him to thank for so many New Testament books of the Bible)

Joseph was sold into slavery by his very own brothers… PLOT TWIST— he became a famous dream interpreter to the King.

What about Moses? He was a Hebrew baby boy who, by order of the King, was supposed to be killed at birth. PLOT TWIST #1: He wasn’t. His mother places him in a basket near the river (Exodus 2:1-4)… PLOT TWIST #2: Pharaoh’s daughter finds him and ends up paying his own mother to nurse him (His own mother got PAID to nurse him ya’ll) (Exodus 2:5-9) … PLOT TWIST#3— He ends up not only growing up under Pharaoh’s daughter but also later leading the Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage. (Exodus 2:10; entire Exodus 14-15)

And then who can forget the greatest plot twist of them all— Jesus! We had a debt that we could not pay. But Jesus paid it all for the remission of our sins. —HUGE PLOT TWIST

 

Many times, life gets automatic and very routine. Some people get the impression that we all are in a rat race. Living one paycheck to the next. Going from one failed relationship to the next. Leaving one unfulfilling job and going to another. I even saw a meme around November of last year that said “Don’t underestimate what God can do for you this last month or two of 2017”.  This is so true.

Never underestimate the power of God! He has no limits. 

At the end of 2017, some people received unexpected bonus checks in the mail, acceptance letters into school, marriage proposals; some people even closed on new homes or met their soulmate in November or December. I know several friends and family members to which this happened. These are all plot twists! We didn’t see them all coming. They weren’t in clear view at first. We may have been hoping for them but there could’ve been years of hoping behind these events. However, it wasn’t until a particular season that it was time for those events to happen (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

But we as humans are pretty nosey, we like to know what God is up to “behind the scenes”. When it comes to our actual lives, we don’t want to be surprised. “Give us a little sneak peek, Lord”. That’s what we really want to ask. Even the disciples wanted insight on events before they actually happened.  But Acts 1:7 explains to them (and us) that “it is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority”.

Why does it seem that sometimes it’s when we have almost given up, God shows up and shows out? I’m not completely sure but Isaiah Chapter 55 and 2 Peter Chapter 33 gives us some insight into this. We learn in Isaiah 55: 8-9 that the way we see and perceive things are not the way that God does. His ways and thoughts are so much more advanced than ours.  We further see in 2 Peter 3:8 that God doesn’t even view time in the same way that we humans do. A thousand years to us is like a day to him. Hmmmmm.

“So you’re saying what we see as a plot twist may not be a true plot twist at all for God?” YES, that’s exactly what I’m saying!

Remember, He knows the plans He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11). The “twists and turns” we see in the plot were only building blocks and stepping stones to help us arrive to our final destination—

• the job He wanted for us
• the husband or wife He created just for us
• the place He wanted us to be when He wanted us to be there

He is the author of our stories, the screenwriter of our plays and movies. I’m not sure about you but I wouldn’t trust MY story to anyone but God.

 “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— (1 Corinthians 2:9)

 

 

 

 

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