Behind the Song: My Place in Your Story

The title song of our album is "My Place in Your Story." This is a powerful, heartfelt ballad about those times in our lives when we don't understand what God is doing, but we choose to trust Him anyway.

Everyone has a story. When James and I met a few years ago, many chapters of our lives had already been written. Although our life experiences included many happy times, we had also experienced much pain and heartache, and had come to a chapter where we realized our lives had not turned out the way we thought they would.

That's not unusual. There are very few people--if any--who could say they have successfully planned out how their life would turned out without any unexpected hindrances along the way. Even five and ten year plans are often laughable, because there are so many things beyond our control that happen to us, events we never could have foreseen, tragedies that swoop in in a minute and leave us devastated, broken, and confused.

These are the times in life that cause people to wonder, "Where is God? Does He see? Does He care?"

We all walk through them. These are the turning points in our lives. The crucible in which the metal of our lives is tried by fire. Will the hard chapters turn us away from God or teach us to trust Him more?

The times when we feel we have lost control are the times we must turn control over to God. He is the Author of our stories, and all of our stories are woven together into His master story.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

I love to read books. I have many favorite authors. When I become familiar with an author, I notice patterns. I can predict how the book will turn out because I am familiar with the author. For example, I know that my favorite author is not going to kill off the main character. The bad guy will lose, the good guy gets the girl and saves the day at the end of the story. I don't need to worry in the middle of the book that the bad guy might win, even when all seems lost, because I trust the author to get him out of that scrape he's in.

In the same way, we can trust God because we know He wins in the end of His story. No matter what happens in our lives, we know that in the end He wins the battle over evil, and if we are part of His family, we win, too.

No matter how your story looks right now, give it to God. Choose to trust Him with your pain and sorrow. He's writing your story, and even if you don't understand it right now, you can know the Author of your story and find rest and confidence in His capable hands.

--Lisa Sparks