Peripety and the Reversal of Destiny

I've been looking ... praying ... studying ... writing through writer's block ...

and I woke this morning to the Father's voice confirming that what I started pondering yesterday is worth pursuing today!

Peripeteia ( /ˌpɛrəpɪˈtaɪə/; Greek: Περιπέτεια) is a reversal of circumstances, or turning point. The term is primarily used with reference to works of literature. The English form of peripeteia is peripety. Peripety is a sudden reversal dependent on intellect and logic. In modern Greek περιπέτεια means adventure.

When I did he Esther study a couple of years ago, Beth Moore defined peripety as the "HINGE" moment ... The reversal of destiny is the moment when things begin to turn ... peripety is the hinge on which it swings.


Last week the Lord prompted me to ask some trusted prayer partners to share with me their favorite stories of Redemption from the Bible. I got the following answers:

Joseph, The Woman At the Well, The 'good' Thief on the Cross, The Redemption of Humankind, Ruth, the Woman Who Washed Jesus' Feet, The Woman with the Issue of Blood ... if I'd sent  out reminder texts I'd have probably gotten more responses ... but this gave me a starting place ...

and guess what ... each one of these stories has a moment of peripety ... now I'm not trying to win any literary prizes here ... and I might be stretching the definition to make my point but go with me ...

Joseph
In Genesis  ... there is a lot of chaos surrounding Joseph. Brothers are jealous, take him out & sell him into slavery, put in jail, dreams dreams, gets a job, wife tries to take advantage of him, he's accused of rape ... the list goes on and on and on. There are many "MOMENTS" in this story ... but the moments in the story that seems to be Joseph's destiny is changed forever is when a)his brothers sell him into slavery and b) In Genesis 45 when he steps into the man God would have him to be and acknowleges before his brothers who he really is ... and in Genesis 50:20- we are reminded the purpose of every reversal of destiny ... "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives."

The Good Thief on the Cross
Luke 23:39-43 ... we don't know a lot about this man. He was a criminal. He'd done something warranting being crucified. His arrest and sentence to die on a cross on that given day was his peripety ... the reversal of destiny is the most important one any of us will ever experience ... eternity with Christ. He didn't walk out his faith ... there was no time. He didn't "do" anything ... he just believed and it was done.

The Woman at the Well
John 4 ... 5 husbands, the man she's with now isn't her husband at all ... she experienced her peripety at the well when she had met one who had told her everything she had ever done ... and she had met the Messiah. The one she had been told was to come and was waiting on even moments earlier ... was now reality to her. The reversal of destiny. She stood in shame before a man asking for a drink and she left a woman forgiven who would tell of what had been done!

The Woman Caught in Adultery 
John 8 ... she was fooling around ... people knew ... men were ready to punish her ... don't you wonder if some of them were afraid of being found out themselves ... by law, it was a just punishment. As you read the story you can feel her shame and their condemnation. Her moment of peripety is when Jesus begins to write in the sand ... and says to the men ... you who is without sin, cast the first stone. Her destiny reversed. She walked away, changed.

So what's my point?

My point is this ... what moment has been your reversal of destiny?? If you have had a life filled with chaos like mine, there might be several! But if you are a child of the most High God ... you  have at  least one! Your God Story is where chaos and calamity meet Jesus! Your God Story was a reversal of destiny ... you were going in one direction and something happened ... God intervened ... Jesus interuptted ... and a moment of peripety occurred.

What was it??

If you don't lay hold of it,
claim it as His Story in your life ...
it's just a story.
Joseph is just a brother that other brothers sold out on ...
happens every single day.
The thief on the cross is just another criminal with a deathbed plea to get out of what he'd done.
The woman at the well was just the woman you do not want your husband lingering too long with at the water cooler in the office.
And the woman caught in adultery is just like the women who hang out downtown, waiting for their next trick.Willing to undergo the next abortion. Never considering the consequence.

It's the story we have to tell that tells The Story of what He has to offer!
Will you let Him use you?