Author and Finisher . . .

"Being confident of this very thing, that He which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Philippians 1:6

"God is the author of all of our stories.  He is present in all of my story.  He is writing a genealogy of grace bringing us to a place where we have to have a Redeemer to rescue us.  And through all the ups and downs and twists of life, He is doing something way beyond what we normally can see that will someday be for His glory and our good.  These are the things that bring us to Jesus."

Steve Green

Those were in a blog that I started following recently.  A blog by a "widow".  I don't like that word.  It sounds eerie.  It reminds me of a spider!  But, it's the word that fits right now.  It's the box that I will have to check on my income tax return. It is the term used to describe me on this page in my "story".  And GOD IS NOT SURPRISED by this page in my story . . . !  THAT is amazing.  THAT is what I can CLING to!  

Speaking of clinging . . . today, my dear friend Heaven (YES, that IS her REAL name!!) sent me a devotional that she thought I'd like.  The final quote read, "In tough times, we can become so preoccupied with our role in "clinging to God" that we forget about His promised protection.  It is not our fingernails that sustain us - it's His loving, upholding hand."  It was a reference to "hanging on by our fingernails".  As if WE are "saving" ourselves . . . How wonderful that I don't have to do that, He is holding me in His loving, mighty hand as I "cling" to him - but not in the drastic, dramatic, frantic "by my fingernails" kind of clinging.   Psalm 37:24 - The Lord upholds him with His hand.  Another comfort, another whisper of love, from a friend and from God!!  I have "lady" devos that I go to, Rick didn't like to read, so he needed quick easy devos - EVERY NIGHT before bed, he read "The Daily Bread" devotional.  This "clinging" excerpt is from there!  It was the October 20, 2011 devotional.  Rick read this just 15 days before he went to Heaven!  That's a comfort, reading the SAME words Rick read, and receiving comfort from them!  ♥  Thanks, Heaven!  

"Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always."

1 Chronicles 16:11

"It is precisely because we do not know what the next turn of the page will bring that we nourish our hearts now."

John Eldredge

I am again amazed at the goodness of God.  At how He provides the words that will comfort, but not only that, words that "go together" so well.  As I've been focusing the past couple days on our "story", HIS "story" I've run across so many references to stories, pages . . . THAT, my friends is a GOD THING!  He orchestrated my reading of every single blog, Bible verse, devotional . . . It's all from Him - it's all part of my story, written by HIM! 


I'm so glad that even when I can't see beyond the next sentence, much less the next paragraph, the next page or (gasp) the next chapter, He KNOWS!  He knows the next sentence, the next paragraph, the next page, the next chapter, the final chapter!  He is the "Author and Finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2)!