By Dan Mielke

Senior Pastor Grace Baptist Church

What would you do if you had a magical pen that whatever you wrote with it would come to pass?

When we look at this world with all of its uncertainty, what would you do with such a pen? If offered such a responsibility would you take it? Think of all the good you could do and imagine how you could balance this crazy world. Would you write in the victory of your candidate? Would you write out of existence the coronavirus? Heal the hurt of a loved one? Imagine the exhilarating power and suffocating responsibility of such a weapon.

I posed this question to my family after supper, and after some thought my 7-year-old son answered, “Daddy, I don’t think I would want it, it would terrify me.”

Do you agree? Do you feel like you might be more qualified to run the universe than the current author? If you had the ability to impact the world in such a catastrophic way, would you feel qualified to wield the pen? Do you feel you would have the wisdom and character to use it effectively?

I suppose many of us would write out the painful parts of our lives. The times of trial and disappointment would disappear, but what might it cost us? Suppose you wrote in a pain free life. What parts of your character would you have accidentally erased? What joys might have never been experienced if you were in charge of the script?

Suppose you had the noble character not to use the pen for your own good, and used it strictly for the good of others. Would you feel qualified to understand all the intricacies and ramifications of your actions? Suppose a relative is getting married at a state park, and you script a beautiful 75-degree spring day, yet your thoughtfulness prevents needed rain and starts a famine or causes massive flooding due to snow runoff. Suppose you write in something as simple as a green light for your spouse, and the ensuing red light causes a child not to make it to the hospital in time….

Would you trust the pen to someone else? Suppose you had to choose someone else to give the pen to. I would imagine if you had to choose, you would try to make sure the person was both wise and loving.

The writer of Hebrews gives us a glimpse of Someone who does wield the Pen of History. He introduces us to the author of the universe in Hebrews 12:2:

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It is truly amazing that the One who holds the pen wrote a life of pain and sorrow for Himself. Jesus is the only person who has ever been able to wield the power of the pen, and He chose to write His pain and suffering at the cross. Why would Jesus write in pain for Himself?

The Apostle Paul also brings in the idea of the sovereign pen in Romans 8:28:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

Here we see that God has the sovereign power to make things happen, but we are still left with a question. Does he care? How terrifying it would be to see the Pen of the Universe in the hands of an enemy or even someone we didn’t know. After all, don’t all-powerful dictators scare us? The Apostle Paul seems to anticipate these questions because he continues in Romans 8:32:

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” The God who holds the pen of the universe loved so much that He wrote the pain and death of the Son He loved so that humanity could find deliverance from sin by entrusting their lives to Him.

I know life can be hard and many of its twists and turns are not easily understood, yet we only have two options. We can reject God and seek to write our own story from our limited position and perspective, or we can trust the sovereign Hand that holds the Golden Pen of Eternity. I for one am glad that the hand who holds the Pen of Eternity is not only powerful, but nail pierced.