I love a surprise ending. The plot twists come from the imaginations of writers. I once was in a class at Fuller Theological Seminary – Westwood Christian Foundation (across from UCLA, where I had graduated 1-2 years earlier) satellite campus, with a writer on the show ‘Mork and Mindy’. We loved Jesus and wanted to learn more. Lot’s of people study the Bible for differing reasons. I wanted to be a good lay-person and Greek made sense in my bible study. In Genesis we know the beginning and in Revelation we know the end but what we want to do now, in the present, is how to live the best life we can as we work in growing God’s Kingdom. We don’t know the plot twists until the surprises takes place. This week I learned of a friends diagnosis, a baby coming, that I’ve gained another half-pound (I love dessert), it rained during the eclipse so we in Seattle had to watch it on tv, I’m nervous about a meeting tonight, the stairs in my home are good for me, and other developing stories. The point is, we don’t know because we don’t control. We pray like our lives are up to God and we work as if it depends on us. I keep writing the same things – sorry. A divorce is a plot twist, a car accident, a tumor, job-change, and…make your own list. The thing on a plot twist is that God is not surprised. He is over time and did not give you cancer but saw what was coming. David’s Psalms help us keep our spirits up. Chapter 1:1-3, “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. And he will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.” Along with the surprise plot twists, we do control where we stand, who we listen to, what we read, and where we are planted. God will guide us through the rest.
