…” You meant it for evil against me, but God meant it for good.”
Genesis 50:20
I never imagined this turn of events. Eight months ago, I was needing a good cover for I book I recently wrote called, “God Writes a Better Story.” A captivating and interesting cover design was my pursuit. Initial mockups from the publisher were less than inspiring. A talented local artist friend, William Butler, has the ability to vividly communicate hope and promise through his paintings. Si I turned to his website in search of an image to adorn the book’s jacket. Ironically, after scrolling the pages, my attention was drawn to a photograph—not one of his exceptional paintings. A simple photo of the pants William wears in his studio—covered in paint—best captured the essence of the publication. Colored blotches of acrylics, speckled over time across his denim jeans, told a story of its own and evoked the spirit of the book. And the book, after all was a collection of stories. Stories about God entering the messiness of human lives and creating something better—just as an artist creates a pictorial story by uniting and mixing disparate colors together. Enthusiastically, William, granted permission to use the photo. Our book was published. Readers were drawn to the unique color. Months passed.
Then a few weeks ago I received a jolting text from William’s wife, Ronja. After experiencing acute pain in the abdomen, William had been rushed to the ER where doctor’s discovered a malignant tumor in his bladder—the size of a tennis ball. A devastating prognosis. A radical cystectomy recommended. Life never to be the same. Five years to live—at best. Then a line I cannot forget. “They think William’s exposure to the toxins in the paints over the last forty years,” added Ronja, “may have contributed to the cancer.”
Our book cover now told a different story. Could the juxtaposition between the title and the developing reality be any more contradictory. Thint about it: Blue jeans splattered with artists paints…toxins…bladder cancer. God Writes A Better Story…really? Nothing was good or “better” about William’s diagnosis. If people understood the causes of William’s condition, dismissing the book as wishful thinking would be a reasonable act. Just another Christian writer trying to perpetuate a theological myth untethered from reality.
But the premise of the book argues something different. It argues that people of faith Aren’t immune from illness, hardship, poverty, economic downturns, pandemics, broken relationships and crushed dreams. Being human can be brutal. Pain, suffering and sickness are part of the mortal package—whether one believes in God or not. So, the critical existential question becomes: in these dark and despairing moments, can God really enter our lives and write something better? Not necessarily an easier story. Hot a painless story. Not a story void of fear and uncertainty. Just a better story. More purposes. More impactful. More hopeful. I think the answer is unequivocally yes. It’s really at the hard core of what I believe. It’s the belief that no matter what zip code we grown up in, what we’ve done with our lives, our family situations or current circumstances we can invite God into whatever crappy, difficult, despairing, seemingly hopeless moment we’re encountering and write something…better. A story we cannot begin to imagine.
And that’s what happened to William and Ronja Butler. Last weekend I received a 21-page letter from Ronja chronicling—in detail—the account of how God entered this difficult moment in their lives and is writing a better story. It hasn’t been easy. There have been moments of fear. But each page of the letter is a testimony to a better story. Ronja & William providing comfort and praying with a fear filled patient awaiting a life altering diagnosis. Ronja and William inviting a nurse to church who had given up on God. Ronja and William encouraging doctors and medical technicians with their faith. Ronja and William receiving the unexpected benevolence and charity of strangers who lavishly provided help. Twenty-one pages. Twenty-one pages of bad story becoming better.
And so, we inch deeper into Holy Week. Easter bunny’s and cochleate eggs distract us from the potentiality of this life changing event. Yes, the death of Jesus is a brutal story filled with betrayal, violence, broken hearts, crushed expectations and the premature death of a man in the prime of his life. Bit in the midst of this brutality one truth arises: no matter how hard it gets, if we make space for God, the story can become…better. (William’s tumors are shrinking and no need for surgery—the story gets better)
Bruce Main
President and Founder
Urban Promise International