Knowing the Ending Ruins the Story

Being a literature lover makes you a little weird. You develop little ticks that make you stand out as the weird, antisocial old man who keeps trying to show kids a magic trick that wouldn't have impressed Cro-Magnon man that you will someday be (or crazy cat lady, depending on your gender).

What is one of mine you ask? I'm a freak about not knowing how a story ends. And when I say freak, I mean that. I'm a sucker for a mystery. I remember when I went to get the last Harry Potter book with my then girlfriend. We waited in line at Walmart for the midnight release and after we received our copies and walked towards the checkout she opened up the book to the last chapter. I almost gave a "spoiled thirteen year old who just heard no for the first time" worthy tantrum and definitely raised my voice more than a little bit (fun fact: the spoiled thirteen year old tantrum thing is where the term "spoiler alert" came from). Mind you, all I saw was the picture for that chapter, but still. From then on I knew that the last chapter had a broom and a bucket in it! Book=ruined. (By the way, if you're reading this "then girlfriend," my bad.)

The cool thing I'm starting to realize about God is that He's a master storyteller and I think we have in common that neither of us like for the ending to be ruined. Well, we sort of have that in common. I mean, I'll freak out over finding out the ending to a story or a movie, but I'm even more frustrated about God not giving away the ending to the "Tale of David" before it's completion. But, God being the master storyteller that He is knows that a story just isn't a good if we know the ending. The ending isn't the most important part of the story, but it's often hard to justify paying attention to the actual story if you already know the ending.

The middle is the most important part of the story and if we know the ending, it cheapens it. And we need the middle. The middle is where faith comes from. The middle is where the adventure happens, and adventure isn't adventure if we know the outcome. So, as much as I want to know how this season of my life is going to end, the most important part of my story would lose much of it's value if I did. So, as much as I wish I knew where or even if I'll be working a month from now, I'll trust that the Lord knows what He's doing. After all, He's not going to give away His secrets when He doesn't want them known. No good author does.