When you didn’t even know God was there: Discovering His fingerprints

 

As you compose your memoir, take special note of what God was doing—even if at the time, His role was under the radar.

 

Maybe what you thought was a mere coincidence was much more—it was God Himself intervening.

 

Lloyd Ogilvie writes about the parable of the Good Samaritan and the phrase “now by chance” in Luke 10:31-35:

 

“Now by chance a priest was going down the road,” as was a Levite after him, and a Samaritan after him.

 

Ogilvie writes:

 

“The Greek word translated by the word ‘chance’

means ‘coincidence.’

But not even that word gets at the core of the meaning

of the Greek word. . . .

It means a confluence of circumstances

which seem to happen by chance

but are really events interwoven

by divine providence

for the accomplishment of a greater purpose.”

(Silent Strength for My Life)

 

Read that again.

 

In writing your memoir, look for occasions when something seemed to happen by chance or seemed coincidental. Ask yourself: Were they, in reality, “events interwoven by divine providence”—by God’s foresight and guidance and plan?

 

Give yourself plenty of time to search for answers.

 

Remember what makes memoir so rich, so special. A memoir goes beyond writing about what happened.

 

It involves discovering the significance of what happened

and what you did about it or with it.

 

Reflection is a key ingredient in writing a memoir. Most people need to work on reflecting because, as Richard Foster observes, “The sad truth is that many authors simply have never learned to reflect substantively on anything.”

 

The remedy?

 

To reflect in a meaningful, deliberate way.

 

Take a closer look at the incidents in your life, your decisions, your relationships:

 

• Consider
• Ponder
• Contemplate
• Deliberate
• Ruminate
• Cogitate
• Wonder
• Mull over
• Chew on
• Wonder about
• Think about
• Weigh
• And study

 

• Look back
• Peel away layers
• Excavate
• Find the gems.
• Dig them out in pieces if you must, but dig them out.
• Inspect them. Look for God’s fingerprints.

 

Spend as much time as you need to make sense of what you discover—to pinpoint those aspects of your life that were indeed not just coincidence, not just something that happened by chance, but were in fact the work of God.

 

This week search for any of God’s fingerprints you might have overlooked in the past. Put in writing how your life changed as a result. How did God use the event to prepare you for the future? Deepen your faith?

 

Think about what Jacob said in Genesis 28:16,

 

“God was in this place and I wasn’t even aware of it.”

When has that happened in your life?

 

Uncover the richer, higher, deeper, wider, broader story,

the story of what God was doing.

 

Discovering that will change your heart and life

in ways you can’t imagine!

 

Tuesday Tidbit: The riches of looking back on life

"The sad truth," writes Richard Foster, "is that many authors simply have never learned to reflect substantively on anything." 

Ouch! That's a problem for those who write memoir because personal reflection is a key ingredient. 

That means if you want to write a memoir, you must learn to reflect in a meaningful, deliberate way.

Your job is to

consider,

ponder,

contemplate,

deliberate,

ruminate,

cogitate,

wonder,

mull over,

chew on,

wonder about,

think about,

chew over,

weigh,

and study

your experiences and relationships and decisions you made.

You need to make sense of them.

Spend as much time as you need to read between the lines and peel away layers and notice what you might have overlooked before.

A.W. Tozer’s quote reminds me of what Jacob said in Genesis 28:16, “God was in this place and I wasn’t even aware of it.”

Uncover your richer, higher, wider, deeper, broader story,

especially relating to what God was doing.

Discovering that will change your heart and life

in ways you can’t imagine!

There you have it, your Tuesday Tidbit.

Related post: What is a memoir? Back to Basics

On sputtering flames and rekindling sparks

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person,” said Albert Schweitzer. “Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”

Read those two sentences again and pause to think:

How many times has your light dimmed and faltered, only to be rekindled by a spark from another person?

In what ways was God arranging events to bring that person into your life? You might not have recognized His efforts at the time, but if you take time to give it thought, perhaps you, like Jacob, will wake up and declare, “God was here all along but I wasn’t even aware of it!”

Connect the dots and pin down the ways God hovered close, working out His good plans for you.

Frederick Buechner observes that on the road to Emmaus, Jesus recognized the disciples even though they didn’t recognize him.

Buechner continues, “In this dark world where you and I see so little because of our unrecognizing eyes, he, whose eye is on the sparrow, sees each one of us.… And I believe that whether we recognize him or not, or believe in him or not, or even know his name, again and again he comes and walks a little way with us along whatever road we’re following. And I believe that through something that happens to us, or something we see, or somebody we know—who can ever guess how or when or where?—he offers us … a new hope, a new vision of light that not even the dark world can overcome.”  (Secrets in the Dark; emphasis mine)

Take a few days or weeks or even months to recognize those occasions. Make yourself a working document: a two-column list of both the events and the people who stepped into your life and invited you into the light.

Each of those incidents is a story waiting to be written and shared with others in your memoir.

When you write, dig deep and deeper. Refuse to skim over the shallow surface of life. What lessons did you learn through both the faltering of your light and the rekindling? As a result, how did your life change? What new person did you become? How did the experience strengthen your faith?

If you write your stories, your memoir can rekindle a flame for someone else whose light is sputtering.

Related posts:

Connect your dots

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