by John Eldredge
- What did I learn from the book? You ever notice life is like a story. It doesn’t come to us like a math problem. It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene. It unfolds like a drama. Doesn’t it? Each day has a beginning and an end. There are all sorts of characters some funny and other rude. A year goes by like a chapter. Sometimes it seems like a tragedy. Sometimes like a comedy. Truth be told, you need to know the rest of the story if you want to understand just about anything in life. Where is Paul Harvey when you need him? LOL. Why does every story have a villain? Yes, your story has a villain. Though most people do not live like it. This makes life very confusing. There is an evil cast around us. War. Famine. Betrayal. Murder. We are not alone. This planet is inhabited by other beings; we share the stage with other players. Though we are comforted at times because we might be assisted by an angel. The Bible has warned us about the two worlds — or one world with two halves, part that we see and part that we cannot.
Standing at the head of vast legions of angelic hosts was a captain. The most beautiful, the most powerful of them all. The commander of the armies of God. The guardian of the Glory of the Lord. His name was Lucifer. “Son of the Morning.” Pride entered his heart. He didn’t want to play a noble role in the story; he wanted the story to be about him. I am staggered by the level of naivete that most people live with regarding evil. They don’t think Satan is real and that he is the villain in their story. You must understand. Satan hates God, hates anything that reminds him of the glory of God,
There is a story that we just can’t seem to escape. There is a story written on the human heart. As Ecclesiastes has it, “He has planted eternity in the human heart (3:11).” Pay attention to the movements of your own heart in a single day. Most of the misery we suffer on this planet is the fruit of the human heart gone bad. We are, above all else, self-centered. We are enamored with small stories and our false gods, we are so bound up in our addictions and take-it-for-granted unbelief that we don’t know how to cry for help. And Satan has no intention of letting his captives walk away Scot-free. He seduces us, deceives us, assaults us, — whatever it takes to keep us in his darkness.
- How will I use this book in the future? I want to share Jesus with people because at the point of my deepest betrayal, when I had run my farthest from Him and gotten so lost I could never find my way home, Jesus came and He died to rescue me. I have never been loved like this. He has come to save you and me in every way a person can be saved. That is God’s heart toward you.
Great point Michael! Epic sounds like a good read. Enjoyed reading your summary. Hope all is well, been praying for you!
Craig
I once had a lady at my church who had terrible scoliosis and had trouble getting around. She’d fought cancer and became childless due to having to have her reproductive organs removed. But instead of being bitter, she gave our Thanksgiving sermon one year before she died. She said,” I wanted to be a dancer, but that life would have taken me further from God, so he gave me scoliosis and I had to use my mind instead of my body and became a teacher who influenced over a thousand students. And while I was in college, I met a Christian man who saw beyond my twisted body and saw me and loved me in ways no backstage Johnny ever could. He is my husband today. I wanted a big family to love, but God made me barren. I was upset until I found that I had a God and a husband who could take all the love I had and return it to me tenfold. All of the things that were placed in my path that others would curse and feel defeated, instead made me see a reason why it could be a blessing. We just have to have faith in our God and that a bigger plan may be in place than we are willing to look for. ”
You are going through something now that few of us could ever imagine. Like Mrs. Sarah Fowler, you inspire and make me proud of you for going through this unpleasant experience but finding things that make you wiser, stronger in your faith and a better man. Instead of only dwelling on the bad, you finding good. Were it not for you being in prison, you may not have had the time to read these books and dwell on their meaning.
I have a saying that is all mine and I think it’s as wise as anything anyone has ever uttered. “You only find what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for the worst in a person, that’s what you’ll find. If you’re looking for the best in people, that’s what you’ll find. Positive people lead positive lives.”
As someone who has known you for years, I have seen your transformation.
Benjamin Franklin said my second favorite saying, “Show me a man who has never made a mistake and I’ll show you a fool.” He knew that we learn more from our mistakes than our successes. Not only that, but we remember them longer.
You are no fool.
Continue your journey and make every minute in that place become something for good. God may bless you for it and make the time there seem shorter.
Your friend forever,
Larry