There was a man, who was called by God, who was among the prophets, he was annointed king. Instead of allowing God to continue to write the story of his life, the man, by the name of Saul, picked up the pen and started to write his own story. It was a disaster movie. The problem wasn’t that he started writing his own story, David who followed Saul also picked up the pen once but God dealt with David differently. Why?
Scripture says, “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, and did not inquire of the Lord.” Saul chose to keep on writing his own story, refusing to let God take back control. He went his own way, he even sought out guidance from someone he had been commanded by God to remove from the land of Israel. The phase, “did not inquire of the Lord” says it all. Saul kept the pen firmly grasped in his own hand and kept trying to write a fairy tale ending but it ended in a nightmare.
David picked up the pen and started making a real mess of his life. It was a mess that would stay with him the remainder of his life but when confronted by Nathan the prophet, David dropped the pen like a hot potato, confessing his sins and begging God to take up the pen again and write out the remainder of his story. God was faithful to forgive and wrote David’s story as the ancestor to the greatest king that ever lived and still lives, Jesus.
We all pick up the pen at times and start writing out what we think should happen in our lives. The question is, when God approaches and asks you for the pen back, will you give it to Him?
Confront yourself with the questions, “Am I writing my own story? Am I trusting God to write it for me?”
The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake. -Psalm 23
