“In a dark time, the eye begins to see.”

Theodore Roethke

The world waltzed into the year 2020 with hope of brighter days to come; however, the path led us into a dark forest of confusion.

Months into the new year, I began to feel we were entering a “tick” on the timeline of history – one of those momentous occasions that, for better or worse, would not soon be forgotten.

I decided to start a journal; and as I peruse it nearly two years later, I am reminded of those early struggles which were so strange at the time but have become so normal now – spikes in cases of the virus, a shortage of supplies, countries locking down, and masks being mandated.

As 2021 dawned bleak and dismal, it began to feel like each passing day was dragging me closer to the edge of a great abyss, and there was nothing I felt I could do to stop the horror that was coming. With all of the insanity inundating us from the pandemic, men were taking advantage of this time of weakness to exude a show of power, and America was losing its freedoms.

Something was off-kilter in our modern world; somewhere, we had gone astray. What exactly was missing? Just as in all the great stories, I began to find truth in the dark hour.

I sought wisdom in the quotes of old from the Founding Fathers of this great nation. John Adams said the Constitution could only govern a moral and religious people. As we sped down the highway of immorality, was it any surprise that the constitution and our God-given rights were being disregarded?

I recalled a Bible verse I had memorized as a child – “and My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB)

If there was any hope of God saving our land as He had promised to do for the Israelites, that verse told me there were four actions I had to take. I had to be humble, I had to pray and seek His face, and I had to turn from my wicked ways.

I was desperate – desperate enough to turn my feet to that path. It was a path I knew wouldn’t be easy, but when was anything that is worth something easy?

In my journal entry dated May 27, 2021, I wrote, “The Lord is revealing a truth of great magnitude to me. Liberty, freedom, morality – they all stem from God, and we can’t have them apart from Him. This truth has been said before, but I never truly understood…

“At the core, good people equal a good nation. But it’s more than that. This country was founded on ideals that had been preached from the pulpit for decades. These were a people who allowed themselves to be guided by God and did not rely on their own understanding.

“If you really think about it, doesn’t it cause you to wonder how a few, simply written documents could govern generations better than any other country? This was done by God through people who were willing to be moral and allow the Lord to use them as a vessel.”

“I have only been an instrument in the hands of Providence,” George Washington said.

I realized this story called “history” in which I am living is being written by an Author. As with any great chronicle, it is the story of tragedy, loss, jubilation, and love.

You see, not so long ago, this Author wrote His own Son into the story. It’s not a particularly pleasant set of chapters to read considering that [spoiler alert] his Son dies a horrific death. But there is a happy ending. Despite all the chaos, pain, and injustice going on then just as it does today, the Author gave us the most important hope of all time through His Son coming back to life, defeating death and giving us a chance for life eternal in a place where there is no sorrow.

In every story, the characters are flawed. They don’t deserve a good ending. But just as we often lovingly grant our characters a happily ever after, so the Author of His story gives us a chance for a good ending.

As aspiring writers, we existed before the work we created in the same way this Author existed before His story began. He is existing now, and He will be there long after the last the chapter.

Can you imagine having your plotline set, when suddenly your characters run off and do things contrary to what you planned for them? While we cannot grant the characters we create such freedom, this Author did. As characters in His story, the things we’ve done wrong have been done against this eternal Author and therefore deserve a forever punishment.

But if we believe He wrote His Son into the story as the means to save us, our name will be written in another book – a book of life which will be opened on the day we finally meet the Author. His Son’s death will cover all the wrongs and injustices we have done and save us from the punishment we deserve.

We may struggle to understand why His plotline goes in the directions it does, but we can know for certain the Author is in full control.

As with the characters in all books, our time will come to an end; however, these swiftly passing chapters are only the beginning. There is a sequel that is greater and much longer than what we are part of now, and we have an opportunity to spend that time with the One who authored this awe-inspiring work which we are living in.

Fellow Untold Story, don’t turn your back on the Paramount Author. You are part of His story regardless of whether you choose His path of light and life; but know that following His plotline for your untold story will lead to greater purpose and fulfillment than you can imagine.

Musingly,

J. R. Brierley