By Don Zoller
There it is! Your completed faith-story. The story of your journey with God and how He etched His faithfulness into each venue of your life. Now it is ready to be a blessing to your children, grandchildren, and loved ones. Great! But not quite!
Many professional authors confess they are weak writers. But quickly add, they improve by rewriting and rewriting. Rewriting is part of being a writer. The job isn’t done until this last step is finished. As you step back and look at the entire landscape of what you wrote you may see it differently. That’s okay. This is very normal. This is where inviting a friend to join you in your project is helpful. You will embark upon what I call a “holy enterprise.” It’s the quality assurance moment where you and your friend—oh yes, and God, have one last chance to review your work. It’s where His fingerprint of approval is placed on your story.
What you wrote may be a perfect sequence of time and events. But it may not be exactly the sequence that best tells the God-story about your life. While my co-author and I worked on our final book manuscript, The Last Shofar, we realized that the order of events needed to be rearranged to better tell the story God’s way. We needed to make sure that God’s place in our narrative was foremost. At times, it meant moving sentences and paragraphs to different locations in the manuscript. We found this to be the fun part of writing. Enjoy writing God’s story about your life, His way!
The way we think about things, i.e. going from “A to B to C,” can sometimes make it difficult to follow the times and events as often seen in the Bible. In the original languages of Scripture, the presentation of God is foremost. The arrangement of times and events, although important, can be subservient to a bigger view of God. Be open to the possibility that God may want you to arrange things differently.
With the help of a friend, examine the whole text to see what place God has vs. how much of you is presented. He shouldn’t be secondary to your story. Example: “I was successful because God helped me.” But better, “Without God’s help, I would have never succeeded.” Determine what changes need to be made to make sure that God comes shining through your text—that He is clearly seen by your reader, and the “Wow!” moment is achieved.
Your action today—Be thankful that the Lord has allowed you to tell His love-story through your life. Be thankful that this story will bless, encourage and, hopefully, transform the lives of your children, grandchildren, those you love, and the generations to follow. Until next time . . .
Blessings and Shalom
Psalm 71:17–18
O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
Don Zoller
Don has recently joined the family at Trinity and is active in the 50+ Bible Study. He enjoys writing and has authored several books that provide spiritual encouragement and biblical insights. His son and daughter-in-law, Graham and Susan, are also members at Trinity.
