God Keeps Secrets (part 2)
thoughts on stories, sea creatures, and sparrows
One of the things I love about reading fiction is that all of these epic characters and plot twists just came out of a person’s mind. In fantasy, even the lands and creatures are made up. When I’m into a really interesting book—especially one about time travel—I sometimes pause to just close my eyes and live in that setting a little longer, imagining what else the character would’ve gotten into. What was life like as a pianist in the 1920’s in Texas or as a postal worker in Toronto ten years ago? It must be so fun to dream up stories and timelines as an author.
Think of J.K. Rowling’s spreadsheet or Tolkien’s constructed languages or how Andrew Peterson has talked about starting his fantasy series with a map. It costs an author $0 to think or imagine stories, but they can end up becoming so much more than pretending or mere entertainment. Good stories change lives and shape entire cultures. That is not imaginary.
It’s interesting to hear from authors who are shocked by their own story’s development. “Oh no, this character has to die?! Noooo!” or “That’s who the monster is?! I had no idea.” The author’s brain is what’s making this happen, of course, but sometimes they create characters and plotlines that come so fully alive that at a certain point, the story itself takes over. But even then, the author knows more than her characters do. J.K. Rowling had a plan for book 7 when she wrote book 1; young Harry had no idea what secrets were going to unfold around him and even inside his very self.
God Had Fun
All these brilliant storytellers and creators get their very ability to imagine and create from somewhere, from the most creative Being in all existence. Imagine how much it delighted God to dream up the universe, thinking of tulip poplars and praying mantises and nebulas and human tendons and then making them all actually happen just by speaking. Like, what actual fun that must’ve been.
“O Lord, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
There go the ships,
and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.”
-Psalm 104:24-26
That last verse gets me. Mankind told horrifying legends about this monstrous sea creature, but God liked watching it play in the ocean. He likes watching goats give birth in mountain caves1; He delights in watching gorgeous flowers bloom in faraway forests. Think about how satisfying it is to watch birds—I’m looking at you, beloved family member who always has an Eagle cam on your screen 😉—and imagine how much God enjoys seeing these things, even things that no camera or human eyeball will ever see.
No Unseen Dead Sparrows
We can’t ignore all the very not beautiful things God sees, too. Animals who are prey or who die from polluted waters. Suffering children who cry out with no one to help them. Elderly people who are mistreated and suffer silently. Every single person reading this has struggles and pains that no one else knows about. Why does God let stuff like that happen? If He sees it, why doesn’t He do something about it?
There are some things we just don’t know or understand because we’re not at that part in the story yet. But I do know this: not a single bird falls to the ground without God’s permission, so how much more must He care about His suffering people? “So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:31)
God is keeping secrets, even secrets about the painful “why” moments in your life, dear one, because He is writing a very good story. This one isn’t make-believe, and it’s a lot longer and bigger than you think.
I hope you and I can both trust Him this week. Knowing Jesus makes everything different even if the circumstances don’t seem to change at all.
Love,
Hope
P.S. Here are some pretty pictures from the past couple weeks!
Job 39:1
I was just reading about Leviathan lol! In a book about disability theology. Job compares his scaly skin disorder to the scales of Leviathan (making him an outcast and feared by society). But then God comes and says “But Leviathan is one of my most majestic masterpieces! And not at all on the outskirts of my concern” 🥹😍
Have you heard about the Orcas sinking boats? They believe it is an orca injured by a boat that recovered and is teaching other orcas to sink boats in retaliation. Its spreading. 😱