Writing History

I love history. Luckily for me, my children inherited this love. I love the events, the strategies, the pivotal decisions, but mostly, I just love the stories of people. Individual people whose individual stories, joined collectively, write history.

A couple of years ago I was in Boston with my family. As we visited so many historical landmarks of America’s story, it dawned on me that we are writing history. My family of origin, my own family, the families that will be one day created by my own children. Individual lives a part of something greater. Our family story writes history. So does yours.

Most people in history never intended to do anything that would change the world. John F. Kennedy is a perfect example. He didn’t even want a life in politics. He wanted to be a writer. Life circumstances after the death of his brother, the aspiring politician, threw him into the political ring. And soooo…..we know what happened. We now read of the events under his watch as President as those that quite literally changed the world. It’s just crazy. He never intended for that to mark his life. But it did.

As an American, who is first and foremost a Christian, my life should echo the quote pictured above by JFK in a different way. It goes like this… “Being confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 1:6

I didn’t start the work in me, Christ did. I don’t carry on the work in me, Christ does. I won’t complete the work in me, Christ will.

We are but a piece of a much larger story of redemption in this world. What we do and how we lead on our watch matters. We may not see the completion. We may actually grow frustrated and feel as if we do not matter in this story. That is not true. Even if we cannot see exactly how it all plays out, that must not impede the influence of our story. It’s irrelevant whether we ever know the impact of our lives. We must say, in the words of JFK, “but let us begin.”

We don’t have to see the ending to live each step faithfully.

Dear Father, you have made us specifically for the times in which we live. Let us live boldly, courageously and wisely on our watch. In Jesus name, Amen.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

• Mysti Chustz has been following Jesus since she was six years old.
• She is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. Her most favorite roles are being wife to Philip and mama to Coleman, Mary Lamar, and Clay.
• If one verse was used to describe her life, it would be Philippians 1:6. “Be confident of this, the One who starts the work in you is faithful to complete the work in you.”