Well, it’s been a while since I have taken time to reflect and write…this has been intentional. I always believe that unless I had something that God was pressing on my heart to say, it was better to remain silent. Today, we are going to be collectively stretched. I pray God uses this truth today to splash hugs of love on each of our hearts. The “Pen” is nothing but a simple writing instrument, right? I mean, come on. What does a “Pen” truly signify in its simplest essence? How powerful and significant is the “Pen”? What meaning and depth does a “Pen” really carry for you and me? I have been wrestling and pondering with this truth over the past several months…no the past year in my own life and intentionally waited for the ‘right time’ to share my reflections…with His grace, I may take some liberty today to step into a vulnerable space for some, but His will be done and not mine. Who has your “Pen”? Who has the “Pen” to write the story of your life? You or God? Pause for a few seconds and quietly in the stillness of your mind and heart today…consider that question.
I am afraid to say that all to often it is me who wants to take the “Pen” from God and write my story the way that I see fit to write it…the way that I want to unfold and unpack the characters, the plot, the storyboard, and the climax. It is me, in the declaration of “love” and “I know what’s best,” who desires to take the “Pen” from God to author the next few pages in my story. I mean come on…things should not turn out this way. It would be a whole lot better, easier, and less messy if God would just ________ (Fill in the blank)…come on, you know what I’m talking about…we’ve all done the “Fill in the Blank” for God in our thinking, debating, conversing, or yelling with God. In those raw, maskless conversations with God, our natural inclination and desire is to grab the “Pen” from Him, is it not?
Again, I go back to the question for you and me today: Who has your “Pen” to write your story? I love the stories in Scripture…they give us such Hope…such Life…and such tangible real world, real life, and real people examples to “hold on to” when our life hits those all too often ‘bumps & pot holes’ along life’s journey. There are (2) that I particularly love that capture the essence of this “Pen” painting for you and me today: Moses & Joseph. Moses raised in Pharaoh’s household…the recipient of all kinds of privilege and prestige in royalty…yet he took matters in his own hands by killing an Egyptian soldier who was beating one of the Hebrew slaves. After this murder, Moses was forced to leave everything he had in Egypt and flee to the desert where he spent (40) long years in God’s “Desert Place” to heal and prepare his heart for leading the entire Hebrew people out of Egypt into the Promised Land that God had in store for them. I am sure during this dark, lonely, and probably discouraging season of (40) years there were times where Moses wanted to grab the “Pen” from God to write his story a different way…a better way…an easier way…but, he didn’t. He yielded and surrendered the “Pen” to God…so that God could write His redemptive story in, with, and through a murderer in Moses to be one of the greatest leaders in Israel’s history in leading God’s people out of Egypt’s grip of terror and slavery. Then, there is Joseph. Joseph was blessed with incredible dreams and visions by God as the young son of Jacob…dreams that he would one day be this great leader with prestige and honor. However, “junk” happened as some would say…he gets beat up by his brothers…thrown into a pit…sold by his own brothers into slavery…falsely accused by his new master’s wife…thrown into prison…and sits in a dark, dingy, and lonely prison for (13) years in Egypt…waiting…waiting on God with his “Pen” to write the rest of Joseph’s story. I often wonder what that last year in prison was like for Joseph…was he at the brink of just ‘losing it’…of going into the abyss of despair…and then out of nowhere…God showed up with “Pen” in hand and wrote the rest of Joseph’s glorious, redemptive story…being promoted to 2nd in charge in all of Egypt…being reunited and restored with his father and brothers. Why? Because, God had Joseph’s “Pen” as He did with Moses and was able freely to write their stories the way that His perfect plan and perfect purpose saw fit to write them.
I don’t know what your carrying today. Some of you are carrying some pretty “heavy” stuff…some have just been told by a spouse in the past week that they want out and want a divorce…others of you have just recently come to remember and recall some very painful abuse in your past that was covered under the rug for many years…others of you are facing some hurtful addictions that continue to plague you and those you love…others are wrestling with feeling like you are in “God’s Desert” and you wonder if God is ever going to lead you “out” of that lonely space. No matter what you and I are carrying today, there is Hope…God is absolutely crazy in love with you and me…and He desires to have the entire “Pen” of your life and my life in His hands so that He can write freely with no constraint our stories unpacking His perfect plan and purpose in, with, and through them. The question for you and me today is simple: Will we surrender the “Pen” to God? This is the essence of loving and trusting Him and His plan for our lives, even when things get messy, painful or lonely. I love how Jesus even steps into the space of this truth on the cross in Luke 23:44-46 when He utters one of His last statements, “…Father, I place my life in Your Hands…” Jesus surrendered the entire “Pen” to the Father that day and even the night before in the Garden when he toiled in prayer with the Father, “…nevertheless, not my will; but Yours be done.” This is the essence of Surrender…letting go of the “Pen” and placing it completely in God’s hands. He is bigger than any of our problems, issues, and barriers, and He desires for us to embrace that reality that we are not in control. As one of my brothers recently said to me, “Control is an illusion”…only God is in control.”
May you and I today come to the sacred place of Surrender…of surrendering the “Pen” completely to God and His loving hands so that He can write His perfect plan and purpose in, with, and through our lives and in our stories…may we find Hope, Rest, and Comfort that as He did with Moses and Joseph, He will also do with us one page at a time. Father, we give you as painful and difficult as it is, we give You, our “Pen” completely in surrender to You. Please come and be fully present with each of us today and continue writing Your glorious, loving, and redemptive story in, with, and through each of us today. We love You, Father…Amen.
Resting in Him,
Jared S. Faellaci
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