GOD ORCHESTRATES TOWARD BEAUTY

Our Composer God

Romans 8:28 “We are confident God is able to orchestrate everything to work toward something good and beautiful when we love Him and accept His invitation to live according to His plan.” [The Voice]

This verse is often quoted as “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.” I prefer the translation in the Voice because it emphasizes the process: God is able to work with everything that happens in our lives when we love God and cooperate with God’s plan.

Composing Takes Time

A symphony takes time to orchestrate. Here’s an example. In my teaching career, I worked up to a position I’d wanted for several years. Unfortunately, someone else wanted that position too–and quickly. To get it, she spread rumors designed to undercut my credibility. Her gossip was successful, and I was asked to give up the position. I was deeply hurt, not only by her actions, but also by how eager my colleagues were to believe her lies. I cried and did my best to turn the situation over to God.

Symphonies Contain Movements

• Fast forward two years: God opened doors to a new life in the foothills of the Rockies. I began to write fiction. Then I started falling–on stairs, on the driveway, in the hall at church–and I discovered I had Multiple Sclerosis. It was clear I couldn’t continue to live where I was. I cried and again did my best to turn the situation over to God.
• Fast forward seven months: God opened doors to a new life with friends on Guam–in an upstairs parsonage with sliding glass doors overlooking the Pacific Ocean! My fiction shifted toward the Christian market. Four years passed, and then it was time for my friends to return to the States. Once again, I cried–and turned it over to God.
• Fast forward fourteen months: God opened doors to a new life in Arkansas. I’m still writing–fiction, blogs, and newsletters.

Accepting God’s Invitation

When I was in Arizona or Colorado or even on Guam, I didn’t know God was orchestrating the difficulties of my life toward good. I did know I could choose to walk through the doors God opened–or not. Now as I look out at a redheaded woodpecker swinging on a suet holder against a backdrop of sun-dappled trees, I hear the symphony. To paraphrase Paul a bit, Composer God can take whatever happens in our lives and orchestrate a beautiful melody–when we love God and accept God’s invitation to the new dance.