Trusting the Author (by Jenn Lee)

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

-Romans 8:28 ESV

This morning I was reading a picture book with my youngest.

It was one that I hadn’t read before. When we got to the middle of the story, one of the main characters and his sled dogs fell over a cliff. The next page moved along with the storyline without telling us what happened to the man and his dogs.

The stress I felt in that moment was very real, and I did something VERY out of character: I skipped ahead and read the end of the story. I know, I know. Not my finest moment as a reader. But something in me just HAD to know that it was going to work out okay in the end. (Spoiler alert: everyone was just fine.)

But this moment perfectly illustrated a lesson that God has been teaching me lately: it feels very uncomfortable to be in the messy middle of a story. In a “cliffhanger,” if you will. We want to live in the “happy ending” moments. 

It feels very uncomfortable to be in the messy middle of a story. In a “cliffhanger,” if you will. We want to live in the “happy ending” moments. 

A different illustration that I have been pondering a lot lately is that of an artist creating a cross stitch.

Have you ever peeked at the back of a cross stitch? If so, you may have been shocked by the mess you saw: colored thread stretched everywhere, with no rhyme or reason. Although you might be able to see the outline of the image or get a general sense of the work, it certainly doesn’t seem like the artist knows what he or she is doing! 

These two illustrations lead me to ask myself some tough questions: 

• Do I trust God with my story? 

• Do I trust God that He is creating a masterpiece, even when it feels like a hot mess? 

• Do I trust that He knows more than I do? 

• Do I trust that He has control of the timeline? 

In questioning moments like this, my heart aches to jump to the end of the story to see how it all works out. I want to catch a glimpse of the front of the cross stitch to make sure that the end result will, in fact, be beautiful. The hard truth is, God doesn’t let us do that, at least, not as far as our own stories go. 

We know the big picture from God’s Word. In the end, He wins! If we are found in Him, through a saving faith in Jesus, in the end, we win too! That is a glorious hope! But if I’m honest, it feels like a general hope, and not always a personal one.

I know that in God’s Big Story of how He is building His kingdom, everything is going to work out great. But how does my little story work into that? Can I trust that God is going to weave my story into His larger narrative? What if I don’t see it happen in my lifetime? Can I believe in God’s promises, even if I don’t see their fulfillment? 

We need to wrap our heads around the idea that God’s trajectory is generations-long. The timeline of God’s promises can’t be shrunk down to my lifetime.

It is human to want to see the fruits of our labor and the outcome of our work for the Lord. We want to see the purpose in our pain. Our hearts cry out, “Make it make sense, Lord!” But God doesn’t promise us that. He promises to complete the work that He has begun, but He doesn’t promise that we will get to see the complete picture, this side of heaven. 

If you struggle with this, you are in good company with many in the Bible. Think of Abraham and Moses; neither of them got to see God’s people enter the Land promised to them. Joseph waited for YEARS for his story to come full-circle. Simeon was awaiting the Promised Savior until the very end of His life. Both he and John the Baptist had glimpses of Jesus’ calling and ministry before they were called home, but they didn’t get to see the fulfillment of the entire thing. Charles Wesley once said, “God buries His workmen but carries on His work.”[1] 

“God buries His workmen but carries on His work.” 

Our lifetimes are so incredibly short when placed on God’s timeline: a timeline that stretches from eternity past into eternity future. It’s a thing to wrestle with, this idea that I may be called home before I am allowed to see the promises fulfilled. If I’m honest, I don’t really love that. 

The culture, our spiritual enemy, and our own hearts have us tricked into thinking that we are the authors of our own stories, that we control our own destinies, and that we know best.

This makes me think of our buddy Job and how God responded to him when he was questioning all the suffering he was going through. God patiently, lovingly, yet firmly reminded Job that He is God, not Job. 

I have a challenge for you: go and pick up your Bible, read Job 38-41, and come back without tears in your eyes. I certainly can’t read it without crying. If you know Job’s story, and the suffering that he endured, you might think that God‘s response is harsh. Is God just adding insult to injury? Shouldn’t God be apologetic about putting Job through such trials? 

Absolutely not. God does not and will never apologize for being God. In His kindness, He corrects our faulty belief that we know more than Him. In other words, He puts us in our place. Lovingly. Firmly. 

It makes me weep to realize that the answer to all of our questions is found in having a greater understanding of who God is.

A favorite singer of mine, Jamie MacDonald, says it far better than I could, in her song “Who He Is.” 

“I may not know what’s ahead, but I know who He is. He is my hope and my defense, love that never ends. That’s just who He is. He’s my anchor in the waves. He's my healer in the pain. He’s my compass when I can’t see the way. He’s my ever-present help in time of need, my strength when I am weak . . . That’s the reason I sing.”[2]

He is the Artist. He is the Author. And He is the Main Character of HIS story. Ultimately, my story isn't about me at all.

Ultimately, my story isn't about me at all.

It can be a hard truth, but, actually, understanding this has been incredibly comforting and freeing to me. Because it is His story, and not my own, I am confident that I can live my entire life, and take my last breath, still believing that God will fulfill His purposes and promises.

I can trust that the work God is doing in His world will extend far beyond my lifetime. I can rest in the knowledge that all I am responsible for is being obedient. I am not in charge of the outcome. I can live out the story that God is writing for me without looking sideways at the stories that others are living. That fills me with an unexplainable peace.

Seeing my life from an eternal perspective, instead of a temporal one, is incredibly freeing. I don’t have to have all the answers or know how it all will work out in the end. Even if I am confused, He is not. Hallelujah!

God is calling us into greater and greater depths of trust in Him and surrender to Him. He is calling us to trust, like Tim Keller, that “God will only give you what you would have asked for if you knew everything he knows.”[3]

Read that again. Sit with that for a moment. 

"God will only give you what you would have asked for if you knew everything he knows."

Because I know God’s character—His goodness, His grace, His righteousness, justice, wisdom, and unfailing love—I can live my life fully convinced that He is writing a far better story for me than I could ever dream of writing for myself. The cliffhangers, “ugly” colored threads, pain, and disappointments ALL have a purpose and a grand design.

Romans 8:28 is not just a platitude handed out to people when they are suffering. Walking with God through hard times will cement this verse in your heart, as it has mine. I believe now, more than ever before, that God wastes nothing. He is purposeful and powerful, and He is good. 

He is able to make it make sense. 

1 Corinthians 13:12 says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." Someday, our faith will be made sight. Until that day comes, let us remember the famous quote, “When you can't trace His hand, trust His heart.”[4]

Trust Him, friend. His heart is so, so good. 

End Notes:

[1] Charles Wesley, BrainyQuote, accessed December 19, 2025, https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/charles_wesley_403288.

[2] "Who He Is," track ten on Jamie MacDonald, Jamie MacDonald, Capitol Christian Music Group, 2026, https://genius.com/Jamie-macdonald-who-he-is-lyrics.

[3] Timothy J. Keller, "Quotable Quote," GoodReads, https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/338379-god-will-only-give-you-what-you-would-have-asked.

[4] "6 Quotes Spurgeon Didn't Say," The Spurgeon Center, August 8,2017, accessed December 20, 2025, https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/blog-entries/6-quotes-spurgeon-didnt-say/.