Don't put a period where God puts a comma, don't say 'the end' while God is still writing! -"Follow the Cloud" John Stickl
I am an Orton Gillingham tutor. When I dictate a sentence for one of my students to write, most of the time I have to say, "Okay, now how do we end a sentence?" They will quickly put a period. While we read, I will discuss with them what that period means, "Okay, there is a period. End of thought, we are going to pause." "A full stop" according to my man Noah Webster.
PERIOD-10. The point that marks the end of a complete sentence; a full stop, thus, (.)
So many times in my life I go ahead and punctuate my own life. I throw that little black dot around like confetti at a party! I place it in every 'sentence' of my life that is not progressing along quite as quickly as I think it should. Still no healing? PERIOD. Dream not coming to fruition? PERIOD. No change in that behavior? PERIOD. No change in that broken relationship? PERIOD. Yep, this is just how it is and how it is always going to be. Let's just call it what it is, pout for a while, then move on along....let's just punctuate and call it done. And what about those times I have actually longed for a period at the end of something? Something I am experiencing that I want to be over, or that I want to give up on, or that I want a finalization of? Those stories I just want ended? Sometimes that period at the end of a hard season feels like a ribbon on top of a package, frosting on top of the cake.
Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
The truth I am discovering is that God deals with commas. As long as I have breath, He is still writing! The healing I am seeking may look like a period to me today, but let's face it, I don't have any idea what tomorrow will bring! Maybe I have dreams that I have carried for such a long time and as of today they have still not come to fruition, but guess what? I am not the keeper of tomorrow!
I love this definition..."denoting the SHORTEST PAUSE".... ahhh, God's time. It makes me think of a sermon I watched by Francis Chan (love me some Francis). He held the end of a rope that went all across the stage and into the auditorium. The very last couple of inches of the white rope was painted red. He gave his sermon and then held up the red end of the rope. He explained the rope represented eternity while the red was our lives here on earth. God's time.
When God is the author could the period at the end of a sentence not be 'an end' at all? Could it be the beginning of the next chapter, the preparation for what my story holds next? Our life is short and God's time is long. What was not done today does not mean it is not going to be done tomorrow. I had a vision and passion for adopting for almost 30 years. I pretended I was adopted as a child (I was even disappointed when my sister finally convinced me I was not). I begged my mom to adopt. I went into marriage thinking of adoption. I had dreams about the child I would adopt. I talked about my desire to adopt all those years. I gave birth to my last child, I put a period on my adoption dream. BUT GOD USED A COMMA. He took the shortest pause from when I first had the thought of adoption to setting foot on the airplane to go get my girl...such a SHORT PAUSE, 30 years. 30 years AND he doubled my blessing because we went back 5 years later for our son!
Here is what my 30 year comma looks like... hooligans!
Zach. 9:12
Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope! I promise this very day that I will repay two blessings for each of your troubles
Although I have put a big fat black circle at the end of so many things in my life, I really have no right to pick that pencil up in the first place. It is a false sense of security to think I am writing the book. I am not the author of my own story, and I am so glad about that. God is so much more creative than I am. He dreams such bigger dreams than I ever dare to dream. He takes me places I would never think to go. Situations may really feel like they need a period in your life, or maybe God really did put a period on that sentence in your life that you wanted to be a comma. Whether it is a SHORT PAUSE or an all out black dot.... there is always another sentence to follow! "Don't say, the end, while God is still writing"!!!!
Great post, Kim.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that you put Psalm 139:16 prominently in this entry. Did you know that Michael W. Smith told me that this is the verse that he keeps returning to when he wants to gain perspective on who he is and how he fits into God's plan. I really like that verse, too. : )