When You Wish You Had a Different Story
9-29-2026
When You Wish You Had a Different Story
“Mommy, tell me a story.”
When my son, Steven, was little, that was one of his favorite requests. Whether we were riding in the car, waiting for a haircut, or settling down for bedtime, he wanted a story. But there was one requirement: Steven had to give me the first line.
“Okay, buddy,” I’d say. “What’s the first sentence?”
“Once upon a time there was a leaf…”
“Once upon a time there was a snail…”
“Once upon a time there was a dragon…”
And so the story would begin.
Everybody loves a good story, but not everybody loves their own story. Some pages are painful to remember. Some chapters make us wonder, Why did this have to happen? Others leave us wishing we could tear them out altogether.
A husband left.
A friend betrayed you.
A parent wounded you.
A diagnosis changed everything.
A dream died.
A child walked away.
A mistake left a scar.
Maybe you’ve looked at your life and thought, I’d like a different story, please. I understand. My early years were a cauldron of alcohol, violence, rejection, and regret. If I could have written my own story, I certainly would have changed those chapters.
But here’s what I’ve discovered: the parts of my story I wish had been edited out have become the ones that stand out as His most amazing work in my life.
That’s redemption.
Isaiah 61:3 tells us that God gives us “a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
I love the words instead of.
Beauty instead of ashes.
Joy instead of mourning.
Praise instead of despair.
Notice that God doesn’t say there will never be ashes. He doesn’t say there will never be mourning. He doesn’t say there will never be despair.
He says He can take what is broken and transform it into something beautiful.
That doesn’t mean we call the painful parts good. Abuse isn’t good. Betrayal isn’t good. Disease isn’t good. Loss isn’t good. But God is good, and He can take what has happened to us and work through it in ways we never imagined.
Think about the Japanese art of Kintsugi. Broken pieces of pottery are repaired with precious metals such as gold. Rather than hiding the cracks, the artist highlights them. Shimmering golden veins trace the places where the pottery was once broken.
The cracks become part of the beauty.
What a picture of redemption.
God doesn’t always erase the scars from our stories. Sometimes He allows them to remain as evidence of His grace.
Perhaps there is a chapter in your story you wish you could rewrite. Maybe you’re living in one right now. You look at the ashes around you and can’t imagine how anything beautiful could ever come from them.
Don’t stop in the middle of the story. God is still writing.
Your disappointment is not the end of your story. Your failure is not the end of your story. Your loss is not the end of your story. Your broken heart is not the end of your story. There are still pages to be written.
We cannot go back and change what happened, but we can place what happened into the hands of the Redeemer. We can trust Him to take the ashes of yesterday and create something beautiful from them today.
And sometimes, the very pages we most wanted to tear out become the pages God uses to help someone else.
Your pain can become compassion.
Your wounds can become wisdom.
Your brokenness can become a bridge that helps another hurting person find her way to hope.
So if you’re looking at your life today and thinking, God, I would have written this differently, remember: you are looking at a chapter. God is looking at the whole story.
And He isn’t finished yet.
You may not be able to change the chapters already written, but you can trust God to bring beauty from the ashes.
Heavenly Father, there are parts of my story I would never have chosen and chapters I wish I could rewrite. But today I place them in Your hands. Take the ashes of my disappointments, losses, mistakes, and hurts and create something beautiful from them. Help me trust You when I cannot see what You are doing. Give me joy instead of mourning and praise instead of despair. Most of all, remind me that my story isn’t over. You are still writing, still redeeming, and still bringing beauty from the ashes. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let’s practice looking for the beauty in the ashes. Fill in the blanks and share them in the comments. God took the ashes of my _______________ and turned them into beauty by __________________________.
Digging Deeper
Have you been eyeing this book, but not read it yet? Friend, now’s the time. This is one of the most important impactful books I have ever written. I wish every one of you had a copy!
Don’t get stuck in a bad chapter. Learn how to move past the difficult parts and allow God to use them for good. Maybe your story of how God got you over the mountain, through the valley, or out of the fire is the very thing someone needs to hear to give her hope that life can be different.
I’m cheering for you!
