Who Holds the Pen?

     I’ve often dreamed of writing a book and having it published. There are several reasons why that hasn’t happened yet. One of them is a lack of inspiration. I can’t imagine writing something more than a few short paragraphs that could tear someone away from streaming an episode of their favorite show. Being a recognized author has to be one of the hardest things someone could aspire to be.
     I remember some of the first books I learned to read. One of them was about a man named Tim. He had a tin can for a head and he could run. Very creative. The words on the pages were as big as Flintstone vitamins. The first book I can remember being proud of “reading“ was The Little Red Caboose. It was one of the “Little Golden Books.” I had my mom read it to me so many times that I memorized the words. I would recite it to impress adults before I had a clue how to interpret the funny symbols on the pages.
     As we grow in our reading ability we graduate to chapter books. My kids liked a series called, The Magic Treehouse. I grew up on The Hardy Boys. They have good chapters that always give us readers something to tease us into the next one. Chapters open and chapters close. We complete one and enter another. In that sense, chapters are good metaphors for waypoints in life. Our lives are like chapter books marked by big events. One of the biggest is graduating from high school.
     I graduated in a royal blue gown with that funny hat and a gold tassel. I couldn’t remember which way to turn the tassel so I may not have “officially” graduated. I left out any reference to that on my college admission applications, just in case. Looking back, I can remember sensing that a chapter in my life was closing. I didn’t want it to happen. I wanted to stay in high school, but some chapters close whether we want them to or not.
     As the pages of our life’s story fill up we have to come to grips with the fact that there are things we can and can’t control. The high school years come and go whether we like it or not. Tucking little children into bed doesn’t last forever. When we move to a new house a chapter closes. When our last son or daughter moves out a chapter closes and we become “Empty Nesters.” We finish each chapter hoping the next one is as good as the last.
     Occasionally, I think about who has the pen as my story unfolds. Sometimes I feel like it’s me. Other times I feel it’s not. It hasn’t escaped my notice that one of the names for Jesus in the Bible is “The Author of Life” (Acts 3:15). Have you ever stopped to think about what that means? Authors are the ones with the pens. There is a sense in which we could all say that we are, at best, co-authors in our own lives.
     I have become convinced that each life story is written with a single pen. There are times when there is a struggle for control. We can get very angry and stubborn when we don’t have the pen. The Christian life, however, is about learning to yield the pen to the one who knows us better than we know ourselves. Surrender is the only way to arrive at a satisfying conclusion to our life’s story.
     Who has the pen in your life right now? Is it you, or is it Jesus? Is there anything keeping you from handing over your pen to the Author of Life?