God rewrote the text of my life when l opened the book of my heart to His eyes.  –Ps 18v24 (MSG)- 

Ask any author what the worst part of writing is and they will all say the same thing: Editing.

It is tedious, complicated and painful.

It’s not so bad fixing the little mistakes like spelling and grammar. Even the best authors make these. A typo here, or the wrong use of a word there.We’d all like to say it never happens, but… in the midst of inspiration, it does. But this is not the editing I mean. I mean the editing that deals with structure, plot, continuity and character development.

It’s tedious because you have to go through your entire manuscript to make sure what you said at the beginning is not contradicted half way through.

It is complicated because when it does contradict, you must correct it; which often means rewriting much of your story.

And it is painful, because that rewrite means deleting what you’ve already written. Deleting what you have poured blood, sweat and tears into.

God rewrote the text of my life when l opened the book of my heart to His eyes. -Ps 18v24 (MSG) –

When I read this verse, it struck me that I see my life like one of my stories- perhaps my greatest story. But here is the thing:I am not the author. God: the Alpha and Omega, the Great Author of Life, is the Author. Or perhaps for the purpose of this illustration, He is my Editor.

You see, often, it is the editor who will tell you what to change in your manuscript. They can see the mistakes and the inconsistencies. They can see when what you have written is actually not very good; and can encourage you to do better.

This is where the “painful” part comes in. It is bad enough trying to edit a story and characters that aren’t even real, (although, we like to think they are) let alone editing real life! That is not to say God goes back in time and “magically” changes what happened. But was l willing to “open the book of my heart” to Him, so he could rewrite what did happen for His purpose? I used to think I trusted God completely. (I do). l used to think my heart was fully open to Him. (It was… wasn’t it?) After all these years I am still learning that trusting God in theory is a lot easier than in practice. And while I might be able to say, ‘God, I open my heart to you,’ it is another thing entirely to keep it open when God is doing a rewrite.

‘But God what about this part of my life? Doesn’t it mean anything anymore?’ ‘But God, don’t they know that- don’t YOU know that …’ But opening up the book of your heart means giving up the questions. It means letting God do an edit on any and every part of your life, even if it’s really, really painful.

That is not to say that God wants us to suffer. He doesn’t!!!

For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone. -Lam 3v33 (NIV)-

But like any author or editor, He does it because He knows the story can be better.

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. –Rom 5v3-5 (NIV)-

Sometimes it can be a small edit; God gradually working in our lives with little “course corrections” to get us on track. Sometimes it can feel like our life has been shaken upside down and erased, like an Etch-a-Sketch shaken clean, ready for a new work.

It takes courage to let this happen: There will be tears. It is not easy to have your heart and soul laid bare. But it’s worth it.

As a good friend and mentor told me, ‘embrace the squirm!’

After all who better to edit your Story than the Alpha and Omega- the very Author of Life!

God made my life complete
    when I placed all the pieces before him.
When I got my act together,
    he gave me a fresh start.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
    I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
    I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
    and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
    when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.

-Ps -18 v 20-24 (MSG)-