The Director’s Chair

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I once saw someone fall out of an open window 10 stories above a city street. 

I was in downtown Bucharest, Romania, several years ago when I noticed that a crowd had gathered near a high-rise apartment.  People were looking up and pointing.   

All of a sudden, a man fell backwards out of an open window.  I’ll never forget seeing his arms flailing helplessly as he plunged all the way down to street. 

The crowd immediately began to applaud.  The stunt man had landed right in the middle of the giant inflated mat.

Anyone who had happened upon that scene at the last minute would have been horrified.  They might not have noticed that this was the set of a new action movie, and over to the side there was a chair with one word written on the back:  Director. 

What do you see when you look at the realm of nature, especially the recent earthquake in Turkey, three hurricanes pummeling the Gulf Coast, and the wildfires ravaging California and Colorado?  What do you conclude when you see political chaos, incivility, and international rancor?

Do you see order or chaos?  Grounds for hope or justification for despair?   

What we learn from the pages of Scripture is that even when things seem grim – even when key human characters appear to lose heart and lose their way – God keeps his promises.  God is sitting in the Director’s chair. 

The story he is weaving may take us along a route we would never have chosen. 

But no details lie outside his attention or his control.   

As the biblical author Jude puts it, “Now to him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy – to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore.  Yes!”  (Jude 24-25)