Laced With Grace – Christian Devotions

Happy Endings

By Linda February 28, 2015 Character, Faith, Life

DSCN5383I have a confession to make.  Sometimes, well quite often, I skip to the end of the book. Shameful; I know. Most often it is a mystery. I try really hard not to do it, but when I know I can’t finish the book in one reading, I can’t resist the temptation to peek. I tell myself the reason for this terrible lack of will power is quite noble. I simply want to see the way the author constructed the plot, weaving little clues throughout the book that eventually lead to the solution. The truth is, I can’t stand the suspense.

However, my penchant for cheating isn’t limited to mysteries. If I form a strong attachment to a particular character in a novel, and it looks as though things may not go well for him or her…..I can’t continue reading unless I know it’s all going to end well.  I have been known to set the book aside if the outcome is going to be particularly dire. I think I am stuck back in the stories of my childhood. The ones where “happily ever after” satisfied my little girl heart.

Some of that has carried over into my own adult  life story. I long for “happily ever after” in a world where Jesus told us we would have trouble. When the inevitable trouble comes, my heart longs to see the end of the story. I want to know it will all end well. I spend my time wringing my hands, imagining all the possible troubling endings. I try desperately to control the circumstances, thinking I can somehow manipulate them into the ending I think is best.

After many weary years of trying, I have come to understand I have very little control. The tighter I cling, the more futile it becomes. I am learning to let go – not give up in despair – simply let go and release it into the hands that control all things. Over and over again, Jesus tells us to give Him our burdens. Scripture is replete with the promises of a Father who loves us more than we can comprehend. Promises to work all things together for out good; promises to never leave us or forsake us. He invites us to trust Him, to believe He is all He has promised to be, and then to rest in the peace that flows from His Spirit straight to our hearts.

I do not need to strain to see the tomorrows that stretch out in uncertainty. The Lord has promised grace for this day. He will take care of the next day and the next. I can trust Him to lead us in the way I should go and to provide all I will need for the journey.

” The closer you live to Me (Jesus), the safer you are. Circumstances around you are undulating, and there are treacherous-looking waves in the distance. Fix your eyes on Me, the One who never changes. By the time those waves reach you, they will have shrunk to proportions of My design. I am always beside you, helping you face today’s waves. The future is a phantom seeking to spook you. Laugh at the future! Stay close to me.”      (from the devotional: “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young)

“I will lead the bling by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them.”    Isaiah 42:16

Blessings,

Linda

 

5 thoughts on “Happy Endings”

  4. Iris

    I think that we all want the ‘happily ever after’ and want to skip to the end of our own story. It is not easy to let go of some things (believe me, I have a hard time), but I know the One who holds my future and that gives me peace.