Ever since Adam and Eve, God has been writing earth’s most passionate and powerful drama, a narrative from ancient past to triumphant future, a tale of redemption and hope. Most amazing of all, God is writing you and me into His story.
Consider this—has anyone ever understood their place in history? Surely Abraham knew. God promised him he’d be the father of many nations, but all he experienced of the blessing was the miracle of a child born in his old age. Did he even live long enough to meet his grandsons, Esau and Jacob?
In Luke we read about the thief on the cross. Everyone around him cursed the man crucified next to him. Suddenly we hear him say, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” In his greatest moment of humiliation and shame, the thief only knew death’s agony, clueless that the faith his dying words expressed would shout a message of hope down through the ages. Because God wrote him into the story, we believe that it’s never too late to repent.
What about modern examples? Christian Wolfke prayed for years that he might win a Jew for Christ even though there were none in his Romanian village, and he was too ill to travel. When Richard and Sabrina Wurmbrand arrived, the old carpenter prayed many hours for their salvation, gave them a New Testament and eventually won them to Christ.
This Jewish couple later stood up to the communist government and, after suffering many years in prison for his faith, Richard wrote the well-known book, Tortured for Christ, and founded Voice of the Martyrs. Christian Wolfkes only saw himself as a carpenter who wanted to win a Jew to Christ. He never lived to see how his investment in the Wurmbrands later impacted the world.
What about you and me? We’re just as ordinary and unsuspecting as these folks, but our faithfulness may also reverberate down through the ages in ways we could never imagine. If today we’re perplexed by our lives, should this be surprising? We’re all part of a greater story which the Author has not yet finished.
When at last all plot lines in the Great Author’s story converge, all mysteries are solved, and the lovers finally wed, I’m convinced we’ll let out a deep sigh of satisfaction and maybe wipe a tear or two from our eyes. Then I imagine we’ll slip to our knees in stunned awe…
Ruth Wood writes at www.Comfort-Cafe.net/blog. She is married, has two grown sons, a delightful daughter-in-law and one rambunctious grandcat.
