Your Story's Not Over

There are few things I love more in life than telling or being told a good story. I have loved books for as long as I can remember (long before I could read them). All throughout my childhood my parents read to my brother and I. They started with picture books but by the age six or seven they were already introducing me to novels. I think I was seven years old when my mom introduced me to Aslan and the four Pevensie children and eight when she began my obsession with all things J.K Rowling. The list goes on and on of all the books that I loved before I even knew how to read. Once I finally learned how to read on my own, I almost always had my nose stuck in a book. In high school I began to write my own and for my first two years of college I minored in Literature (partly because God called me to become a writer and partly just because I just can’t get enough of literature). During my deeper dive into the academic side of story telling that I began in high school, I quickly learned that even though there are numerous different genres of literature, like horror, drama, historical fiction, and mysteries, all literature is divided into two main categories. The first is comedy and the second is tragedy. Comedies, unlike their name suggests, don't necessarily have to be funny. They just have to have a happy ending while their opposite: tragedies always have a sad, depressing ending that often entails everyone either dying, being completely isolated from society and everyone and everything they love, or going completely mad. The strangest part about comedies and tragedies is that they both usually include a lot of both great happiness and deep sadness for their characters and often even humor. The biggest difference is all wrapped up in the ending. Romeo and Juliet would seem like a comedy if it ended with their wedding and the movie Tangled would make a pretty good tragedy if it ended with Flinn Rider’s death. All good stories have to have a combination of both pain and laughter to even be able to carry on a basic plot line. 

Most of us enjoy stories that we can relate to. Even if they involve dragons and flying horses or lightsabers and time travel, we love reading about and watching characters who are brave and adventurous while also imperfect and working through very ordinary human weaknesses and struggles. Our favorite characters are the ones that we both admire and see ourselves in. Harry Potter can fly on a magic broomstick and make things levitate, but he also struggles to keep his temper at bay, faces the awkward reality of having to wear his cousin’s baggy hand-me-down clothes, and discovering the opposite sex. Superman can lift a semi truck and shoot lasers from his eyes, but that doesn’t stop him from feeling lonely and wanting to fit in. We laugh with our heroes and heroines. We sit at the edge of our seats and share their tears because we go through the same things that we are watching them go through and we love watching them find their happy ending because we long to believe that there’s a happy ending waiting for us at the end of our stories as well. However, life doesn’t seem to work out the same way that our favorite books and movies do and even though we love comedies and hope we are living one of our own when life takes a turn for the worst, we often start to think that our story is a tragedy. The chemo doesn’t work. You don’t get into the college you have been dreaming about going to since grade school. Your parents don’t work things out. My dad didn't survive the car crash. David and Bathsheba’s baby dies after days of fasting and prayer. Israel and Judah are led off into exile. Jesus’ body, beaten beyond recognition, is landed to rest in his tomb by his mother and friends. There are times when life is painful and the future looks hopeless. 

In the first few years following my dad’s death I stopped believing in the hope that Jesus offers us. I became depressed and anxious and believed that God couldn’t set me free and lift the heavy burden I was carrying from my shoulders. I thought that my story was too sad and my faith too shattered for God’s healing and redemption. These past few months I have finally begun to believe in His promises again. He gave me the passage, “On that day the Lord will end the bondage of his people. He will break the yoke of slavery and lift it from their shoulders,” (Isaiah 10: 27, NLT). The Isaelites returned to the Promised Land and rebuilt the temple. Their story didn’t end with the exile and mine didn't end with my dad’s death and the death of my faith and hope. Jesus came to heal the broken hearted and set captives free, (Isaiah 61: 1, NIV and Luke 4: 18, ESV). Our stories don’t end in tragedy like Frankenstien  or Macbeth. Even when we are dying, as followers of Christ, we look forward to a better life and a greater reward. The author of Hebrews wrote after writing about the great faith of many of the Saints of the Old Testament that walked through terrifying and excruciating circumstances,

 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart,” (Hebrews 12: 1 - 3, NIV). 

Jesus endured the pain and scorn of the cross so that we could endure the pain and suffering of this life and not lose hope. Whatever you may be walking through, remember this: your story may look like a tragedy right now but that’s just because it’s not over. Dear friend, don’t lose heart or grow weary of the life God has given you. Your story is not over and your happy ending is coming. There is a crown and seat at the table of the Lord waiting for you in heaven and there is a God who is walking beside you ready to give you His peace and joy in the midst of the darkest, most hopeless circumstances. He is a God who loved you enough to die for you and was powerful enough to rise from the grave. He is a God who doesn’t write tragedies and doesn’t leave us when the road is dark and treacherous. 

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about The C.A.N Sisters’ Ministry, leave a comment below, check out my website, or email me at cansistersministry@gmail.com.