AUTHOR AND FINISHER?
Some weeks, the topic of an upcoming blog post is obvious. When a foolish basset hound leads you out into the wilderness, you take that gold mine and you run with it.
However, there are other times where it truly seems I have nothing to write about. My boring life as a spinster gets the better of me, providing me only with tales of vacuuming and doing the dishes with which to work.
This is one of those times. I had nothing.
Well, I had something, but I wasn’t sure my limited abilities could create something out of it.
After praying for some much needed inspiration and guidance, a single phrase kept repeating itself in my mind.
“The author and finisher of our faith.”
Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s a great answer to prayer, a truth we all must take to heart, but…what am I supposed to do with it?
Honestly, I’m not even sure I completely understand that title of the Savior, and there seems to be a great lack of opportunities to tie the topic back to dogs, complaining, or my life as a mooch.
Far outside of my wheelhouse, I desperately searched for ways to break my way back inside, but it was of no use. This is the challenge the Lord wanted me to tackle this week, and I’ve often found that His mind is not easily swayed.
Author and finisher? What does that even mean?
Probably best to start off with the original source, correct?
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Alright. This provided us with some great context clues, and gave an always needed reminder of the sacrifice Christ has made on our behalf.
But, where does the author part come in?
Being the narcissist that I am, I often find it helpful to try to find myself in the scriptures. How does this apply to me? Where can I see Ellie in the words?
Now, though I have not yet earned the title of author, (No news from a publishing company is good news, right?) I do spend a possibly unhealthy amount of time with the characters inside of my head. Perhaps this complete lack of expertise could shed some light on the subject.
As an “author”, I tend to begin with the end in mind. Through drowning seas of rough drafts and synonym searches, there is a place I want my characters to reach. More often than not, the final destination has something to do with true love, but that is not all I want for these imaginary people that I call my best friends.
I want my characters to learn, to change, to grow. I want them to finish better than they started, with more confidence, and to witness and be proud of how their story helps others. (Most often they only help me, but maybe someday.)
I want them to know who they are, and it is along the journey of writing that we find it together.
Because, guess what? Despite the fact that each and every one of them is indeed a figment of my imagination, I do not have full and total control over them. They come out as they are, doing what they like and what they wish, leaving me to weave their poor choices into a cohesive plot.
From the beginning, I craft the framework that holds up the book, providing experiences that I think will help carry them along, but ultimately, it is their tale to tell. Their decisions, accompanied by my gentle nudges of guidance, are what get us to the final page.
Now, let’s switch gears and go from an aspiring author to an actual author. Jesus Christ. How is He the author of our story?
I think the better question might be, how is He not?
Just like the mooch who is hoping for a miracle, (Yes, prayers are welcomed, in case you were wondering.) Christ starts our stories with the end goal in mind, returning to live with Him someday. Everything He does, every word of wisdom, every answer to prayer, every season where we have to wait, each and every one is directing us towards a place at His side.
The bones of this chronicle have already been set. Jesus Christ suffered, “endured the cross”, as it says in Hebrews 12:2, in order to make possible the joy that He knew would be waiting for us at the end of the last chapter. Leaving it up to the author, that final destination will be reached.
Unfortunately, those characters love to throw a wrench in any creator‘s carefully laid plans.
Just as with me, (That’s sound so wrong on so many levels.) Christ does not control His beloved children. Unlike the armature, He probably could, but He chooses not to. Instead, He cultivates and provides opportunities for us to increase our faith. He writes in the times that stretch us and grow us, that show us who we are and who we want to become.
He allows us to make our own decisions, and then uses what we give Him, good or bad, to help us become the person He knows we can be. He helps us write our story.
That’s not all, though. If you’ll recall, the phrase is, “author and finisher of our faith.”
There are some characters, some plot lines, and even some days, where I abandon my adored best friends. Sometimes they truly drive me insane, and I just can’t stand to look at them. Now, occasionally this distance sticks, and I do not return to that scene painted in my mind. It’s not worth the mental torture to see that dialogue prompt all the way through.
However, there are other ones that even in the moment I am closing the lid to my laptop, I know I will be reentering that world the very next day. I’m committed and determined to see it through, because I know these are stories that need to be told.
Christ isn’t as fickle as yours truly. He knows that every tale deserves to be told. Every single one of them.
Never does He leave a character out to dry, proving to them that they never deserved His love or devotion in the first place. If that were the case, none of our stories would ever see that blessed end He has painted for us through His own blood. Every day we fail Him, and every day, every hour, every second He comes back to finish what He started.
Though He’s already completed His part, He works to help us as we compete ours.
He sees every chapter through, depositing a better, brighter, and happier version of the original character on that final page just before the acknowledgements.
So, what does it mean in Hebrews when it says Christ is the, “author and finisher of our faith”?
It means He loves us. It means He’s always there. It means He’s helping to create a wonderful life for us.
It means He’s going to see this story through.
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