Author's Prerogative

So, I don't know how many of you like to read books, but I assume most of you have read at least one novel in the span of your life. One of the most challenging parts of reading any novel for me happens when things occur that I disagree with or don't like. Sometimes bad things happen to my favorite characters, and sometimes good things happen to the characters I hate the most. In those moments, I want to argue with the author and challenge their decision to allow those moments into their stories. However, if the author knows what they're doing, then these moments help move the story in a specific direction and are necessary to achieving a certain end. The author has that end in mind from the beginning, and selects events - even some they don't particularly like - in order to complete the story exactly as they intend to.

As the creative spirit behind the book, the author has the prerogative to choose their ending and to get there by the means they see fit. We, as the audience, cannot see their ending and cannot judge their means until we see the whole picture.

We need to realize that the same is true of God and His universe. One of things that Scripture makes crystal clear is that God has an ending to this story in mind and a plan to get there. His plan is intricate, all-inclusive, and mostly hidden from us. God's writing the story - even if He doesn't always like what happens.

For example, think about Jesus' end of life. You think God liked that idea? He knew it was necessary, He began writing it into the story from the very beginning (Gen. 3:15). That doesn't mean it pained Him any less. So imagine, if you will, when in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prays and says: "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from me" (Luke 22:42a). Of course God wanted to alleviate His perfect Son's suffering, but He also knew that for the sake of the story He couldn't. He had to go through with it.

What is truly telling here, however, is not God the Father's decision to go through with the plan for Redemption, but the rest of Christ's prayer: "yet not My will, but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42b). Jesus, as God the Son, understood that the story of the world had a specific direction, orchestrated by God the Father, and that this was a necessary part of the plan. He knew that the human perspective could not see the whole picture, and so He prayed for relief but also subjected His request to the mighty will of the Father.

We could all learn a lesson from this: we presume to know the will of God when we pray, but we are not the Author of the World. He has this story completely under control and we need to remember that. As Jesus did, we can fervently pray for whatever we feel moved to pray for, but we must always remember that our will is not the directing force of the universe and nor should it be! We must remember that if God was willing to subject Himself to humiliation, torture, and excruciating death for the sake of the most brilliant, beautiful, glorious ending ever conceived, then of course there are going to be other difficult plot elements along the way. Sometimes, God's going to make the hard call to let us go through the tough stuff - not necessarily as punishment directed at us either!

So as you live out your role in this Master Story, remember you are not the Author. Remember that He isn't even looking for an editor. He knows where the story is headed every minute of every day. Pray fervently for the desires of your heart - because He wants us to do that - but be humble enough to remember that you cannot tell Him how what you're praying about fits into the grander plot.