I love stories. I love watching movies that tell stories. I love people who tell stories. I even love reading books that tell stories. The best books to read are those that capture my interest and attention to the point that I can not wait to turn the page to see what happens next. I love books that create the tension in my life where it is really late at night and I should go to bed, but I can’t put the book down because my mind is racing and I can’t relax until I find out what is going to happen next. When I’m reading a good book, I can’t wait to turn the page to see what adventure or resolution is going to happen next.
I believe that we all our telling stories in how we are living out our lives. Everyday we write a new page or maybe even a new chapter to the story of our lives. I love the idea that each day we have a chance to write something new in our lives and that people are reading the pages of our lives everyday. But in the midst of life, I have realized that at times I have repeated the same page of my life over and over again. Disappointment, hurt, and the unknown have hit me and it has stopped me from writing a new page in my life. I have become numb, stalled, and fearful to the point that I didn’t even want to turn the page of my life and start writing something new. It became safer to rewrite the same page over and over again than risk turning the page and writing something new.
During this month millions of students will graduate from high school and college and they are all faced with the offer to turn the page and write a new page of their lives. Many will embrace the new day and can’t wait to turn the page and many more will be stopped and be afraid to turn the page to start something new. Many students struggle to have the courage to go from the safe and familiar to the new and possible. It is sad to see people who are living great stories in their lives come to a transition point and stop writing the story of their lives.
I believe God has given each of us offers to write incredible stories through our lives. I believe that many, if not all of us, face moments or seasons where we are halted in writing the story of our lives. I believe in those moments and seasons, we get to choose whether we will have the courage to turn the page and write a new page of our lives where we do not know the outcome or what might happen. I believe that on the next page of the story of our lives their lies potential for an amazing, incredible, and captivating story that people are longing to be engaged with because it points them to God, the One who can make all of our stories captivating.
What story are you telling? Are you rewriting the same story over and over again because of a hurt, a belief that you are too old, too broken, overlooked or unimportant, or a fear that says the future is too dangerous and costs too much? I invite you to take a deep breath and turn the page and continue to write the story of your life. The potential of the next pages of your life always are far greater than the stories of your past.
Keys to Turning the Page
- Let go of the power of the past pages – the past pages of your life do not have to dictate what is written on the future pages
- Forgive – forgive people, yourself, God. If you don’t think you need to forgive, read the book of your life and every time someone hurt you, take time to forgive them
- Celebrate – read through the pages of your life and celebrate what God has done – remember who you are and what God has done in your story
- Trust – trust God. Trust that He will be with you as you turn the page and write a new page. He will be with you in college, at your first job, at your next job, in your future relationships, in your first month where you have to pay for things. Trust that He will be with you, not to make everything easy, as you write the next pages.
Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”