I think of all of the famous people or great inventors whom people call ‘overnight successes’, not acknowledging the years of work and struggle. Bible stories often cover decades in just a few verses…there’s a lot we don’t see. What if we imagine our lives in the stories…lots of ordinary days, sometimes good, sometimes challenging. When we look back, we might notice a pattern or a turning point. People in the Bible had ordinary lives. Only when they (and we) look at them from the future can we see the patterns of God’s faithfulness, often in surprising ways. – Pastor Trudy Stoffel
