"The Rest of My Story"

 

“The Rest of My Story”

 

Famed newscaster Paul Harvey (1918-2009) was a fixture on ABC News Radio for almost six decades. His weekday morning and mid-day reports reached millions of listeners. His style was unique as he used humor, satire, irony and other approaches to make boring stories interesting. He’s perhaps best known for his “The Rest of the Story” segments in which he cited well-known and obscure events and their surprising outcomes. Many have tried to imitate him (my feeble attempt can be seen in an early posting “Never Too Late”) but his incomparable manner will likely never be duplicated.

As I’ve read through the Bible I’ve seen incidents in the lives of many people and wish I knew “the rest of their story”. I’ve written several narrations of possible scenarios of people’s lives after meeting Jesus but have no way of knowing if they represent the way they lived out their days. Here are a few of many possible life stories I’ve thought about over the years:

*The woman Jesus defended against a biased group of men and whom He told, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11). Did she? Or did she go back to her old ways?

*The anonymous innkeeper in Bethlehem who had no room available for Mary and Joseph (Luke 2:7) but provided shelter in the only way he could. Did he later learn the identity of the One born in his stable or cave? Did he believe in Him?

*The invalid who was brought to Jesus by four friends at the cost of someone’s roof, was forgiven by Him and was told to “…take your mat and go home.” (Mark 2:1-12). He walked away healed but Scripture is silent as to his future relationship with Jesus.

*The Magi who followed a strange astronomical sight to where Jesus was, bowed in worship before Him and presented Him with valuable gifts (Matthew 2:1-12). Did they return home as believers in Him? God’s Word doesn’t tell us.

I must ask myself, Can I trust God with the rest of my story? Stuart Hamblen wrote in his 1952 song “Known Only to Him”, “I don’t know what the future holds But I know who holds the future. It’s a secret known only to Him.” More importantly, will I trust God for the rest of my story? Will you?

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan