What’s the Rest of the Story

A good book keeps your fingers flipping the pages to see what’s happening next. That is, if they’re not grabbing a Kleenex to wipe tears away or they’re not gripping the arm of your chair. A good book  is a struggle to put down, fearing you’ll miss part of the action. Even while it’s resting and your body has moved on, your mind lingers on the pages just read. And, of course, when the book is completed, you’re left yearning for the rest of the story.

Have you ever read a book evoking strong emotions, and find it keeps you there to long? It can make you physically ill. When that happens, I catch myself wanting to edit it so those scenes are shorter.

Politics have the same affect on me, especially during election years. Everyone wants change, regardless of their party affiliation. With a good book, you can put it down, but it’s impossible to escape the media or conversations all around trying to convince you to buy their book. Actually, everyone acts as if they’re an agent pitching a new author to a publisher. These “agents” believe this newly elected “author” will have the next bestseller…giving them the royalties they’ve been waiting for.

The real truth is, the candidates aren’t authors with a book waiting to be released in January. They don’t know the rest of the story. Our hope shouldn’t be in them, but in the God who created them. Whoever is elected will lead in making changes they believe in. However, we don’t need to lose our hope.

Let me propose to you the idea we’re all characters in a book called life. The cool thing is we’re the authors since it’s nonfiction. Some plan out their choices ahead the way an author plots their book, while others fly by the seat of their pants the way a bad writer does. The benefit is we can edit the outcome to a large degree. Yes, we have the power to change a line or chapter in the book by the life choices we make. We can control the direction the book will flow.

Change starts with us. Oh, we might not change policy or laws, but we can change our attitudes, our families and homes, our schools, and our community. We can write, and we can edit our parts of the story.

Discouragement attacks when America feels more like a foreign country than the America we grew up in. But, we must never give up! Recently, a missionary from Uganda spoke at our church. Uganda had one of the worst dictators that ever lived.  Let me encourage you. This country now has 85% Christians living there.  Another example is the Fiji Islands where cannibalism prevailed until Protestant missionaries moved there. Now, it’s a terrific tourist place where the crime rate is among the lowest in the world. In the Bible, it only took one prophet, one king, one apostle, or one obedient servant to turn the world upside-down.

Be intentional about being an example in your family…in your community. Change comes from within, and it starts with Y-O-U!

You can help write the rest of the story by doing your part. Get your head out of the sand. Quit being selfish. No more ineffective griping about the way things are. Talkers aren’t doers. Let’s turn our country around and make it a best-seller!

How did this encourage or motivate you? Share in the comments below.

If you find yourself pumped and ready to do your part, but don’t know how, you might enjoy, or even need, “7 Simple Steps You Can Start Changing Your World.” Just make sure you’re subscribed here before Friday, November 11th, 7:00p.m.(EST) You will receive your copy of “7 Simple Steps to Start Changing Your World” in an email on November 11th.

© 2016, Jena Fellers. All rights reserved.