What Chapter is God Writing?

If you met me as a high school student, you would have met a lazy student. I was smart, but I was lazy. But I hated reading. I grew up in the golden age of video games, so that became my replacement for reading fiction. I was a character in the story rather than reading the story. I had no real interest in improving myself, so I never read anything in that category. Then I got called to pursue a theology degree where I did nothing but read...a lot!

Today, I love books. As much as I love technology, I’m old school when it comes to books. I want to hold it in my hands, make highlights, and smell the pages. Every book I have read follows the same general format. There is a table of contents that outlines the book, most often broken up into chapters. The thing about a book is it is divided into manageable chunks. The interesting thing about life is it works the same way.

Our life is broken down into milestones. You are a newborn, then a toddler, then you are in early childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, median adulthood, senior adulthood, and so on. These are the chapters of your life. Last week I shared a number of dates that represented milestones in my life. We all have them. Sometimes we call them seasons. Taylor Swift calls them eras. They are chapters in the book God is writing. Sometimes we know the end of a chapter is coming, and other times life brings an abrupt end to a chapter.

In Genesis 35, a transition occurs. Ironically (or not), we are looking at the close of a chapter in a book, but it is also the end of many chapters in Jacob’s life. The original book of Genesis (and the rest of the Bible) did not include chapter and verse numbers. That came about 500 years after the New Testament was written. The literal end of a chapter in this book is going to help us see the end of a chapter in Jacob’s life, and learn how we can learn to move forward when we find we are coming to the end of a chapter in our lives.

Let’s read Genesis 35:16-29 together.

Genesis 35:16–29 NASB95

Then they journeyed from Bethel; and when there was still some distance to go to Ephrath, Rachel began to give birth and she suffered severe labor. When she was in severe labor the midwife said to her, “Do not fear, for now you have another son.” It came about as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin. So Rachel died and was buried on the way to Ephrath (that is, Bethlehem). Jacob set up a pillar over her grave; that is the pillar of Rachel’s grave to this day. Then Israel journeyed on and pitched his tent beyond the tower of Eder. It came about while Israel was dwelling in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now there were twelve sons of Jacob— the sons of Leah: Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, then Simeon and Levi and Judah and Issachar and Zebulun; the sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin; and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s maid: Dan and Naphtali; and the sons of Zilpah, Leah’s maid: Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob who were born to him in Paddan-aram. Jacob came to his father Isaac at Mamre of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had sojourned. Now the days of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years. Isaac breathed his last and died and was gathered to his people, an old man of ripe age; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

This passage is bookended by deaths that mark the close of two chapters in Jacob’s life. The first death is tragic. Jacob loses the bride he worked fourteen years for. The love of his life has passed away after childbirth. The second death was the death of his father Isaac. The death of his wife was unexpected. He wasn’t prepared for it. The second death was more expected, but it doesn’t make it easier. Change has come. The chapter is over. There is no going back. The world doesn’t wait for Jacob to be ready. So, what now?

We are going to discuss three things you can do to navigate times of life when one chapter ends and another begins.

Have you ever read a chapter of a book, watched a TV show, or a scene in a movie and thought, “I wish that was longer?” Sometimes we want to stay in the chapter we are in. That was such a good moment. So many cool things happened. Life was good in that chapter and I don’t know what comes next. I want to go back and watch that scene again. I need one more season of that TV show. In life, there are moments where life is good and we are not ready to let it go. But time marches on.

Dozens of parents watched their children graduate High School last week. After eighteen years, a chapter of their lives came to a close. They knew it was coming. Some of them might have been ready, but I bet most of them were wishing they could hold on just a little bit longer. I’m sure Jacob wanted just one more day with his bride. I’m sure he wanted just one more day with his dad, but he couldn’t. Time marches on.

Before we talk about the next chapter, we should...

Focus on the present chapter.

Do you know how to read a book? One chapter at a time. If you take a novel and try to read three chapters at once, it is going to confuse you. You will feel lost. You won’t be able to connect the dots. You can only read the chapter you are on if you hope to understand the story, its context, and enjoy it. If you are going to enjoy life, yes, look forward to the next chapter. The High School graduate should look forward to what comes next, but not at the expense of the here and now.

You can only live one day at a time. Ferris Bueller said, “Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." So, focus on the present chapter of your life. To do that, you need to ask a few questions.

What chapter does God have me in right now?

Can you name the chapter God has you in right now? Are you in the parenting chapter, raising kids at home? Are you in your retirement chapter? Are you in the middle of the career chapter? What chapter of the story are you currently living in? Name it.

2. What pulls me away from being present in this chapter of my life right now?

Distractions abound. There are plenty of things to pull us away from living fully present in this chapter right now. Sometimes it is worries of the future, the fear of loss, or lack of prioritization. Sometimes the TV stays on longer than it should. We doom scroll social media. We are workaholics or seeking to climb the corporate ladder. Sometimes it is the demands of an employer placed on you. The question here is not whether certain things should or should not be present in your life. The question is can you identify the things that pull you away from being present in this chapter of your life.

3. What would being fully present in this chapter look like?

The other way of asking this is asking, what does success look like in this chapter? How can you know when this chapter of your life comes to an end that it was a good end? Even if the end is not positive? Some chapters end in tragedy. This chapter’s end is tragic. But the tragedy also brought forth new life. Jacob was the dad of a newborn again. What would it look like to be fully present in this chapter? Name it. If you know where you are, and you can define what success looks like, you can chart a course to get there.

4. What prevents me from changing?

If you are not fully present in this chapter, what prevents you from changing? What stops you from turning the TV off? What stops you from scrolling on the couch? What stops you from picking up the phone? What stops you from sending that text? What stops you from change?

These things lead to greater self awareness. The more self awareness we have, the more we are empowered to make choices that will lead to the goal line we are looking for. Know where you are. Understand your hurdles. Know what defines success. Then chart a course to move you from where you are now to where you want to be.

The second thing to do when navigating the end of a chapter is:

Embrace the close.

Jacob had two big life events happen very close to one another. He lost his wife and his father. He could not control those things. He had to embrace the fact that those chapters have come to a close. Life happens to us and certain chapters come to a close. We have to embrace when God is closing a chapter in our lives.

We love maintaining the status quo so much that we will keep a dead thing alive for as long as possible before letting it go. In churches, that looks like programming. We started this program because it was supposed to reach people. Then that program dwindled to the same three people showing up who now drink coffee and talk about Gladys’s skin cancer. In your life it might be time to leave a job. It might be time to leave a relationship. It might be time to kick a bad habit, but you don’t because it is easier to stay in something that is sucking the life out of you than step into something new.

Sometimes it doesn’t have to be anything bad at all. You can’t stay in your 20’s for more than ten years. The same is true of your 30s, 40s, and so on. Embrace the close. Make the most of the moments, but when it is time for something to come to an end, learn to embrace it. Every new beginning is some other beginning’s end. Change is hard, but change comes whether we are ready for it or not. The chapter you are in is going to come to a close, and if you are already at the close, embrace it.

But as you embrace the close, the third thing to do to navigate the end of a chapter is:

Anticipate the new.

The story we are reading is setting up a shift in the narrative. The story of Isaac is over. The narrative of Genesis does something interesting. Each major section begins with, “Now these are the records of the generations of _____.” Look in the first verse of chapter 36. “Now these are the records of the generations of Esau.” Chapter 37 will open with, “Now these are the records of the generations of Jacob.” A new story is being written. The next generation is stepping into the spotlight. Jacob’s story is coming to an end.

Watching classic Disney movies as an adult has been a strange, but fascinating experience. One of my favorites is the Lion King. Early in the movie, it is just before dawn and Simba runs into the cave where everyone is sleeping and wakes up Mufasa, his dad. Mufasa had promised to take Simba up to the top of Pride Rock at dawn to overlook the kingdom. They get to the top, and Mufasa says, “Everything the light touches is our kingdom. A king’s time as ruler rises and falls like the sun. One day, Simba, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as the new king.” Wisdom is knowing that the sun is setting on a chapter in your life, but looking forward to it rising to a new one.

The sun will set on our time here one day. Focus on the present. Embrace the close. Anticipate the new. Our emphasis on evangelism and training younger people comes from an understanding that one day we will not be here to carry the torch any longer. New leaders will emerge. We must be ready for it.

Adventure awaits for the one who will step into it. What do you need to do to step into the next chapter God is writing in your story? Some of us are not there yet. We all need to live in the chapter we are in, but anticipate that God will bring it to a close and start a new one. Some of you are in the final chapter of your life, but a new chapter will begin where you and Jesus will walk together for eternity. Be present. Embrace the close. Anticipate the new. Some of us are coming to the end of a chapter. Be present in this one. Embrace the close. Anticipate the new. Some of us are in the middle of a chapter. Focus on the present. Embrace the close will come. Anticipate the new.

We have been living in the last days since the ascension of Jesus, which means every day since then has brought us closer to his return. Focus on the present. Embrace the close. Anticipate the new. A day is coming where the hurts of this world will all be dealt with and what remains will be eternally perfect and harmonious. Are you ready for that day? Before we can get there, let us focus on the present.