Is It Your History – or His Story…in You?

Do you enjoy reading biographies? I’ve found them instructive and inspiring. Especially in discovering the many obstacles that famous, accomplished individuals had to overcome to achieve greatness. Things that matter, things that last, rarely come easily.

I considered writing the story of my first car, but didn’t want to do an auto-biography. If I were to write my own biography, I fear its only value would be as a sleep aid. The kind of book that, once you put it down, you can’t pick it up. So I stick with other people’s biographies.

Essentially a biography tells someone’s history: Where and when they were born; if they’re deceased, where and when and how they died; and most important, what happened to them in between. The exciting ones captivate our attention. But considering our personal stories – our histories – from God’s perspective, they become His story in us.

While serving as publications director for CBMC, a marketplace ministry, one of my jobs was writing and editing a magazine. Many of the articles were profiles, kind of mini-biographies. I enjoyed learning how God had worked in the lives of the people I interviewed, including their marriages, families, and professional careers. Each time it became evident it wasn’t just their story – it was God’s story being worked out through them.

One was Gerald, an African-American whose encounters with racial discrimination ultimately shifted from bitterness into an attitude of thanking God for the adversity he had gone through. He became pastor of a prominent church in the South. Then there was Albert, who experienced the horrors of World War II while growing up in the Netherlands. He endured many other hardships, all of which eventually drew him to Jesus Christ, transforming him into a man whose life has become an inspiration for thousands.

And there was Jerry, whose history with God involved a very personal, amazing link with the World Trade Center towers leading up to the events of 9/11, twice finding his life spared through very unusual, providential circumstances.

Biblical accounts tell us God’s story in the lives of many men and women, starting with Adam and Eve, progressing through the likes of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Ruth, David, Daniel, even a prostitute named Rahab. In the New Testament we see His story becoming Jesus’ story, manifested in the lives of Joseph and Mary, Peter, John, Barnabas, Paul, Timothy, Priscilla and Aquila, and many others.

The 11^th chapter of Hebrews presents a magnificent parade of people of faith, including many listed above. But we don’t have to search or look too far to see examples of God’s work in someone’s life. All we have to do is look in the mirror.

Most of us aren’t famous, and even if our stories aren’t particularly dramatic, we should each be able to recall examples of how the Lord has worked in and through our lives and circumstances, especially during times of difficulty and adversity. It seems that every minute of every day He is busily molding and shaping us into the men, women and young people He wants us to be – and tough times are often His tool of choice. He has a unique plan and purpose for us all, which He intends to fulfill. In the throes of hardship, we tend to pay closer attention.

Philippians 1:6 sums it up this way: “being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” A bit later, the apostle Paul observes, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). This means He knows what He’s doing, He’s going to get it done, and He’s doing it very, very well.

Recently I finished editing a book that a friend has written on God’s faithfulness. He’s compiled stories from men and women recounting an incredible variety of ways the Lord has worked in their lives, including many times when if He hadn’t responded miraculously, just in time, all hope would have been lost.

As we go through life, we’re inclined to think it’s all on us, that as poet William Ernest Henley wrote in “Invictus,” we are “the master of my fate…the captain of my soul.” But the Bible reaches a very different conclusion. Because as Ephesians 2:10 declares, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

He’s got a great story to tell through us, and He won’t stop until the last paragraph, the final sentence has been written.

Failure – Or Just a First Attempt?

Sometimes social media drives me crazy. The negativity, caustic comments and pompous, partisan pronouncements. And those are just from my friends and family members! (Just kidding.) But there are times when I see a post that makes me think, “That’s it! It says it all!”

One of those was a poster – I don’t know the original source – offering a refreshing take on something we’ve all encountered, probably numerous times: Failure. As a society we seem to have concluded failure’s a bad thing, something to ignore or deny. But as the words of this particular social media poster noted, if we redefine three words typically associated with failure, they can redirect us to success.

The first word was “Fail,” as in, “Woe is me! I’ve failed. How can I ever go on?” But what if we changed the word’s meaning, reinterpreting it as an acronym: “FAIL – First Attempt In Learning”? This brings to mind the adage, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

There’s not one successful person living or dead who has avoided failure. But a big difference between those that later experienced success and those who remained mired in misery was a matter of perception. Those consigned to failure saw their efforts as meaning, “I can’t do it. I knew I couldn’t!” However, those able to leverage momentary failure into later success perceived their setbacks differently: “Well, that didn’t work. I’ll just have to try again, or take a different approach.”

A second word is “End.” A time of failure or defeat can be viewed as the end, an indication to give up. “No sense trying anymore.” Or it can be regarded as another acronym: “END – Effort Never Dies.” If every baseball player quit the first time he or she struck out, no one would be playing the game. Consistent and persistent effort often leads to proficiency and success.

Granted, there are times when we attempt something unsuccessfully and realize we haven’t enjoyed it, that it wouldn’t be worth the effort trying to become proficient. It might be painting, dancing, handicrafts, public speaking, sales, or some other pursuit. (For some people, this might include driving a car.) But even in cases like these, considering this the “end” might simply mean determining to do something else instead.

Then there’s one more word often associated with failure. It’s the dreaded “No” word. This was something I confronted while still in college, experimenting with a couple of part-time sales jobs to try and earn some extra money. After hearing “no” on several consecutive sales calls for both a book publishing company and a vacuum cleaner manufacturer, I realized I wasn’t cut out for a career in sales. Years later it was confirmed that I don’t have a single selling bone in my body.

But as with “Fail” and “End,” looking at “No” in a different way could prove revolutionary in moving toward the future. Instead of assuming that no is the equivalent of failure, we might it as yet another acronym: “NO – Next Opportunity.”

This is particularly true for job seekers. Over the years I had numerous interviews that did not lead to job offers. Resumes I sent out with high hopes didn’t merit as much as a return phone call. But I persisted, determining that if one door closed, another would open somewhere else. And as it turned out, after receiving a “no” more times than I would have liked, the “next opportunity” proved to be better than I could have imagined.

Knowing our tendency to become disheartened when confronted by failure, God offers many passages that encourage us to “keep on keepin’ on.” One of my favorites is Galatians 6:9, which urges, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up (lose heart).”

Sometimes our spiritual pursuits also seem paved with failure. But again we’re reminded to persevere: “Therefore, my brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). As with trying to grow a garden, when we must wait patiently to see tomatoes or green beans or whatever seeds we’ve planted finally germinate, we might not see immediate results from our spiritual labors. But we know that in time we’ll reap a harvest – in our own lives and in the lives of people God directs our way.

We also have this promise to cling to when failure seems certain: “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). Sounds like good news – especially since God never fails.