Day Fifty: Hebrews 9-13

In Book Two of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, (a scene left out of the movie) Frodo and Sam find themselves climbing the steps of the dreaded Cirith Ungol.  It is a place where, as Frodo says, “step or stone, breath or bone. Earth, air and water all seem accursed.” They rest, and Sam asks Frodo, “I wonder what sort of a tale we've fallen into?” "I wonder," said Frodo, "But I don't know. And that's the way of a real tale. Take any one that you're fond of. You may know, or guess, what kind of a tale it is, happy-ending or sad-ending, but the people in it don't know. And you don't want them to.”

Frodo’s point is that when you’re listening to a story (or in our day, watching a story unfold in a movie), the fact that the characters don’t know what is going to happen enhances the drama.  It is quite a different thing, however, to actually be living in the story. When the story is happening to you, you want to know what’s around the corner, what kind of a story you are living in, and if it has a happy-ending or a sad-ending.

If you are a Christian who believes that God is the author of history and specifically the one writing the story of your life, then maybe you know a little bit how Sam and Frodo are feeling.  What’s around the corner for me? Where am I going to go to college?  Who am I going to marry?  What’s my story? Will it be a tragedy or a comedy? 

If we’re honest, most of the time we want to write the story ourselves – and that’s what we try to do – we try to run our own lives, be independent, and write meaningful stories for ourselves apart from God.  One of the hardest things to do is to trust God as author of our story.  One of the hardest things to do is to live our lives through faith.  

Hebrews 11 gives us a glimpse of all different kinds of people – mothers and martyrs, patriarchs and prostitutes – who found themselves inside God’s story.  They had different personalities, lived in different places, and were given different instructions by God. Yet all of these people responded the same – in faith.  

These are people who decided that the author of the story could be trusted.  

It’s the same story we are living in.  Will we make the same decision as they did?

Lord, sometimes my story doesn’t make sense.  Help me to believe that you are writing a better story than I could write for myself.  Amen.