Because we can trust the grand author.

For most of my life, I’ve wanted to control everything.

I am not exactly sure when this started. But somehow and in some way, I did not trust that I would be okay in life if I wasn’t in charge of everything. I thought everything would work out fine if I was in control.

This looked like strict plans that would not be erased. This looked like dreams in my own imagination that I thought would work out in my best interest. This looked like thinking worst case scenario, so I would never be caught off guard.

But then life happened.

My story looked a whole lot different than God’s

I wanted to write my own story, because I felt like I knew what is best for me. I conjured up plans for who my future husband should be, what my future career could be, where I’ll grow up and raise babies, what my summer internship will be.

But God? He had other plans.

You see, I tried so very hard to write my own story. I put all my creative power in imagining my life. And while I don’t think it’s bad to have a vision for your life, it can be destructive if we don’t let our plans budge.

Each chapter started looking differently than I planned. This past season, many expectations I upheld in my life were torn town. Expectations for my family, my relationships and my dreams. With each failed expectation, a page was torn out, a sentence erased.

Nothing looked as I would have imagined.

It was at this point, with broken expectations in my hands, I looked up to God and said, okay, I officially have nothing to lose. If I have nothing to lose, then I can surely trust you to write a better draft than I can.

He is a wonderful storyteller

The Bible says that Jesus is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). He is the grand storyteller. And most importantly, he is much more creative and genius than we ever will be.

When we let go of controlling our lives, and we give him the reigns, we trust that He will write a better story than we can. Because with God, there are no bad endings, and we can be sure of that.

He can make the messy into beautiful, he can turn a tragedy into a testimony, he can turn loss into love.

Giving him the pen is an act of trust

I remember hearing people talk about “trusting God” at the beginning of my Jesus journey. And I didn’t really know what it meant.

The concept sounded really nice and pretty, so of course, I put the Proverbs 3:5 verse all over my dorm room and sometimes as my iPhone wallpaper, with pretty calligraphy and flowers.

But deep down, I was not trusting God. I didn’t even really knew what this concept meant.

But these two words have more meaning than you would even think. “Trust God” are two simple words with a heavy meaning.

Trusting God is much harder than we’d think.

Trusting God is not only trusting him with our French final, although this is certainly what I am doing for next Monday.

But it is also trusting him with our future. Trusting him with the unknown. And not only believing that he exists, but believing he sees what you’re going through right now, is with you, and is for you.

What a crazy concept to grasp.

Trusting looks like believing

Trusting God isn’t a pretty little phrase to say when you are facing a small problem. But trusting God looks like believing in who he is, the very essence of His character, when life looks grim and dark and hopeless.

We can believe that he is good, and he wants to give you good things, not hurt you. We can believe he is faithful, so he can be trusted with our futures. We can believe he is for us, so he will provide all our needs.

When we believe these truths, we stop freaking out about the future, the question marks, the lack of answers. We start saying the most beautiful prayer anyone could ever say.

“God, I don’t know what you’re doing. But I trust you.”

Let Him write your story, and see what he does

Maybe your rough draft turned out to be completely wrong as well, and it needs to be thrown away. And that’s okay, because there is someone so much more creative, loving, and brilliant than we ever will be. And he’s in charge of your story.

With him writing your story, there are no bad endings.

I don’t know about you, but I want to give the reigns to someone smarter than me. Someone who is before all and after all and in all. Someone who, in all honesty, is a lot more creative than I am, and will probably throw in some interesting plot twists.

It makes me think of a sketchbook and a masterpiece.

I imagine a little girl with a sketchpad, writing down all these great ideas, and being so sure of herself. She’s getting a little frustrated, writing and erasing, writing and erasing. Her ideas are limited, her dreams are smaller than she can achieve, and her visions are spurred by what little she can see.

And then behind her, I see a brilliant artist, definitely in glasses, painting a beautiful masterpiece, featuring this girl’s whole life story. It’s colorful, bright, and out-of-this-world. But the only problem is her sketchpad is blocking the view of this beautiful masterpiece. She is settling for less, and she doesn’t even know it.

I want to live the life God has for me way more than what I think is best. I’d hate to be so wrapped up in my draft that I miss the moment he’s created me for.

Give up the control to the one who is ultimately in control

I know it’s crazy to give God the reigns of our life, but it’s worth it. We just need to thank, cultivate, and trust.

We can live every day thanking God for what we have, cultivating what he’s given us, and then trusting him with the rest. We are in the business of effort, but God is in charge of the results.

I encourage us to rest in Him this week, knowing that he will meet all our needs, in the right timing. He is the master storyteller. And I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeves.

How do you trust in God to work out your story? Comment below!