Redemptive Twists and Turns

Christine Wyrtzen Devotional

PROPHETS AND THE PRESENT
 
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, set apart for the Gospel of God, which he promised before hand through the prophets in the holy scriptures. Romans 1:1

Nearly every time Paul gave a defense for the Gospel, he didn't start with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.  Since most of his accusers were Jewish leaders, he was intent on showing them that Jesus was connected to their scriptures, the fulfillment of their law.  The Torah, which they embraced and knew front to back, had predicted his coming.  God was not only the Alpha and Omega, but the God of the in-between.  Nothing was random, nothing was haphazard, but each event in history a meticulously conceived plan according to the wisdom of a Sovereign God.

Why was this important to the Jews?  Because it's hard for any of us to completely leave everything familiar and embark on something new.  And it wasn't necessary where the Jews were concerned.  They had in their hands (the Torah and the writings of the prophets) the complete revelation of Jesus Christ.  To believe on Him was to complete their faith, to be as Abraham looking ahead for the Lamb of God and finding Him in Jesus.

God is the consummate storyteller.  The revelation of Jesus in Bethlehem was connected to the plotline in Eden when Adam and Eve sinned.  Everything in between followed the storyline.

He is also the consummate storyteller of my life.  Not one thing has happened to me that isn't an integral part of God's plot line for me.  I didn't always believe that; taking a handful of painful events and putting them in the 'useless' category.  God just couldn't use those, could He?

I had a dream many years ago where I was sitting with Jesus for a day in a secluded place.  We had nothing but time because the clock on the wall had stopped. Relieved that there were no time constraints, I began to talk and tell Him my story.  He gently interrupted and made this surprising suggestion.  "Tell you what, Christine.  Let me tell you your story."

As he did, and it seemed that the dream took all night, He wove together the events of my life, starting with my place in His heart before the world was created, down through the ancestral lines of my family, to the behaviors of my parents, teachers, and pivotal people in my life.  His version was much longer than mine and reminded me that He was not only the God of the past and future, but everything in the middle.

In God's plot line, there is no such thing as 'wasted'.  Not even our mistakes.  Though we know the end of the story revealed in Scripture, the redemptive twists and turns take us by surprise and delight.  May I not be like the Jews who failed to recognize Jesus when He stood in front of them.  As He orders the events of my day, I ask for the eyesight to see His fingerprints.

After all these years, I am beginning to love my storyline.  It is interwoven with Yours, with the cross.  Amen