After enjoying a walk along the lakeshore in the coolness of the morning, I returned home to a special breakfast prepared by one of my daughters and her family. It included blueberry and maple flavored gluten free scones, an assortment of fresh fruit—grapes, blueberries, and pineapple, an omelet stuffed with red pepper and zucchini, and hot tea. This meal was served to me with “You are queen for a day” and “Happy birthday Grandma” greetings, hugs, and smiles. Beside my plate, I found two beautiful cards designed by my grandchildren. And wrapped in pink paper was a large piece of smoked wild salmon which came from Alaskan waters. What a great way to begin celebrating my seventy-seventh birthday!

Later, I received a lovely bouquet of flowers, gift, and phone call from my other daughter and her family. Then I called my sister to wish her a happy birthday. During our conversation, she told me that she had recently asked for prayer and had received the following message: God is writing your story, so sit back, relax, and enjoy it.

“How did that make you feel?” I asked.

“Happy!” she said.

The phrase “God is writing your story” stuck in my mind, and I pondered that idea for awhile. Do I believe that God is writing my story? If so, how do I feel about that? Is he writing everyone’s story?  What evidence do I have for that?  If so, how do the choices that we make affect our destiny? In what way do genetics and environmental factors determine who we become?

I’m not going to try to answer those questions or explain how everything fits together—it’s too complex. However, the following Scriptures indicate to me that God definitely influences our genetic makeup, and he has good things planned for us.

The Psalmist said: “For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb . . .
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139: 13,16 NIV).

The prophet Jeremiah said, “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11 NLT).

Yet God’s good plans don’t automatically appear to us, arriving as a birthday present; in some mysterious way, our choices matter. This challenge that Moses gave to Israel— “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV) — applies to all of us.

I hope that you will join me with an enthusiastic “yes” to God writing your life story. “Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.” —Philippians 2:12-13 MSG).

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