God vs. Charles Dickens

I remember the first time I read Great Expectations. I closed the book and simply stood there in awe of it: the plot twists, the meandering story lines, the characters, and the incredible surprises that the author interwove throughout the entire story. If I had been wearing a hat, I would have taken it off in honor to the author. I have yet to find another story as well-written or as intricately woven as that one.

And today I was hit with a parallel: life is a lot like a well-written story. When I look at my life, I see the incredible good, with the horrendous bad. I mean, take this week for example. Just when I had thought I would never hear from a couple different people again, or thought I’d never actually get to know someone, suddenly things changed and I found myself sitting next to those people, chatting and having a great time.

Then yesterday, I was hanging out with a dear friend of mine, and she, being the crazy-wonderful person that she is, talked me into giving a guy, a complete stranger, my number. I don’t do that kind of thing normally, yet, it was thrilling and daring, and it filled me with life.

And then there are days like today where I randomly meet my ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend. And she was nice and sweet, and I felt bad for her, because she doesn't know that he cheated on me to be with her.

And although I was filled with turmoil inside of me, God worked a tiny little miracle, and had someone pray for me, asking for exactly what I needed at that moment: peace.

So even while my heart was hurting, there was something inside of me, tugging at me, saying, “There is so much more than this. There is so much greater. You are meant for so much more than this trivial stuff.” And I felt this peace flow through me, and I recognized it, because it was so much more than peace, it was joy. It was that same joy that has always been in me; the joy of the Lord.

And I look at God a lot like I looked at Dickens when I read his masterpiece. I’m in awe of how God has woven together the fibers of my life, the good ones and the bad ones. And I can’t even get mad when the bad ones ruin my day, because I see it as a whole. When I stand back and look at the plot-line of my life, I’m amazed by God’s authorship, and His ability to tell this great story that is my life. And I’m honored to get to play a role in that.

So even on days like today, I love my life. You just can’t make this stuff up.