Edited

As I was having lunch with a new friend the other day, she was sharing a small part of her life’s story with me.  As she transitioned from one life event to another, she mentioned that it had edited her.

Edited her? I had never heard that before and stopped her to see what she meant.

She explained that was the life event that took her from one direction in her life into another one that felt very different. Instead of her story going the way she had planned, it took a turn at that moment.

She was edited.

When I wrote my last book, my editor and I spent months pouring over every sentence on every page. The process was not only meticulous, it was sometimes painful. There were a handful of times when what I was trying to say just wasn’t getting across and my editor asked me to change my direction. 

But I have a plan…

I have something I’m trying to accomplish…

It didn’t matter; we needed to go in another direction. I was edited.

As a writer, I love the expression of being edited. It’s creative and precise at the same time. But as a child of God, the editing process is far more complicated. I think of all the times I’ve cried out to God because the story wasn’t ending the way I had hoped.

But I have a plan…

I have something I’m trying to accomplish…

Life got in the way and my life path changed. Sometimes the change was noticeably better, while other times the change made no sense in my limited little mind. But good or bad, God always seemed to bless me in the process. I’ll admit some of the edits in my life have been harsh and extremely painful – taking me a long time to understand why they were necessary. But God has done great things! He managed to reconstruct the broken pieces and use me in a new way. Who does that but God?

Have you been edited? Are you being edited right now? Just because the story isn’t going the way you planned, doesn’t mean it won’t end the way you hoped. If you’re like me, the ending God will create will be far better than anything you can imagine yourself. Amen? We are always made better in the process.

Be blessed,

Jennifer

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28