Turning Curses into Blessings - A Short Story
by Sarah Stenger
The beautiful, vast throne room was flooded with light, white and warm. It was round. No corners, no shadows. No darkness. There were two people. One clothed in a fine crimson robe that fell on his features like silk, elegantly crafted and stunningly beautiful. The other clothed entirely in white. White that was so pure it hurt to look at after only a short while. Simple, and yet it had such inexplicably powerful appeal.
The one in crimson had just walked into the room, and as he continually came closer, his appearance continually lost of its beauty and elegance. Now he seemed to be so much less of a person and more of a creature that could slightly remind one of a person. It was odd, from afar the robe made him look so elegant, so perfect, so appealing...up close, he was disfigured and pitiful. But he carried himself with self-confidence, his eyes gleaming, like a mad man, driven until the end. He joined the one in white in front of a big window, eager to show him something. They didn't stand there for long, but long enough to see whatever it was the crimson creature seemed to be so proud of. After a while, he turned to the one in white. There was a victorious look on his face, his mouth warped into a malicious grin. "I told you.“ He seemed so pleased with himself. "And it wasn't even hard.“ The one in white looked at him. There was no repulsion in his eyes, no anger. There was no frustration and no impatience. He didn't seem to be the slightest bit offended. No, there was serenity in his face. There was peace in every fiber of his body. There was the calmness and certainty of someone with authority and power. And he smiled. A content smile, almost like the smile a mother gives a child who doesn't yet have understanding deep enough to be explained all the complex details of life. "Thank you“, he simply responded. And he looked out of the window again. "That was perfect.“ It seemed the crimson one had not expected a reaction quite like this. His entire face fell. Self-confidence gave way to disbelief, the victorious grin disappeared. "No“, it slipped out of his mouth. The one in white gave him a long look, and the crimson one appeared to fight a silent battle within himself before he aggressively spun around on his heels, almost as if in defiance, and rushed out of the throne room.
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As might be very obvious from the start, this story is about a meeting between Jesus and the devil. Before writing this story, there was an event in my life that felt and looked like an inherently horrible situation. Nobody would have described it as good. But months after this particular event, I was looking back and reflecting on my journey thus far and found that the event written off as something dark I should try to forget had caused growth in my character, shaped my actions for the better, taught me life lessons, and made me end up in the good place I am in now. It is still not a good event. But God took the bad and let good come from it.
This story is about the devil wanting to show that he is winning. He is getting people to sin and he is getting people to suffer and he is causing affliction and pain. We know and feel and see that all the time. But this story is also about the part we forget the most: That God is more powerful than the devil. All his little tricks and schemes, God can use for good. That is the hope I wanted to capture. To use Max Lucado's words for it: “Satan weaves; God reweaves.“ Lucado ties this to the story of Joseph right here: http://www.faithgateway.com/what-was-meant-for-evil-god-uses-for-good/ It is worth taking a look at!