A quote on NPR is worth repeating: "God loved stories so much that He created people." Pondering on this for a moment, I immediately recalled a story also worthy of repetition.

One evening we attended a nephew's engagement party 100 miles away. Many people in the group were unknown to us. I sensed a note of precaution as we began the evening. With ample food on my plate, I chose to sit on a lawn chair beside an elderly lady. She seemed to be friendly and courteous. After some small talk it seemed advantageous to ask her about her life. This is her story.

She gave birth to eleven children but two of them were stillborn. Two other boys died in car accidents when they were teenagers. Two of her children now had dysfunctional marriages. Her husband died 13 years ago and she remarried. However, this man left her a couple of times and so she divorced him. Oh yes, she had gone to church all her life but just recently she became a Christian and she had real joy in her heart, for God is so good.

"What a story!" I told her. "You have gone through so many heartaches, and now you say God is so good. How is that possible?"

Quite candidly she said, "Yes, I have had many sorrows and their memories will linger through my whole life. But the joy I have in knowing Jesus resolves many tears I have shed and dissipates much grief and anguish. All I can say is, God is so good."

I was overwhelmed with her anecdote and have shared it with many others. Again I reflect: Did God invent people in order to make up stories? It has been said that history really means, "His story." Interesting. All the history in the world is really a story of God's intervention.

Unlike other religions, God's Word, the Bible, is filled with stories of divine intervention. But then, why would God like stories so much? Could it be that He just loves to show off His grace? It's like the expression, 'When all else fails, try Me.'

Could He be saying in your life, "I can complete your story when you become part of My plan." Every story deserves a happy ending and then, it becomes a good story. Amazing! Even your story deserves a happy ending. Not all of our problems in our stories will go away but in our stories, there is a God who takes us by the hand and shows off His wonderful rainbows, filled with a panorama of colors. Would you not want to be part of His story? That is why He created you.

A suggested prayer: "God, You've been around and have witnessed many stories. I can hardly believe it that You also know my story. My story may not be nice, not worthy of repeating and the way it seems, it will not have a happy ending. I do not deserve Your grace to intervene but I now ask You to make my story a good one, something in which I can see the beauty, the happiness that can happen. I am sorry for any misdeeds I have done and now ask You to become part of my life. Complete my story and be part of my history. Amen!"

Contributed by George Prins. gprins@becon.org

Thanks to Daily Wisdom http://www.dailywisdom.com A service of Gospel Communications International

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