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God Wrote Every Chapter in Your Story
.
But the author always knows how the story is
going to end before the characters do.
Article by
Kariana Reyes
Guest Contribution
I was always a curious child,
and this curiosity gave birth to a bad reading habit.
When I was about a quarter of
the way into a novel — about where I would start becoming invested in the
characters — I would impatiently flip to the end of the book to find out how
the story ends.
My eyes would quickly search
for any clues that would reveal if the main characters would eventually survive
or die, fall in love or find whatever it is they were searching for.
I wanted to know ahead of time
how the mysteries would be solved, and if I could expect a happy ending or not.
After discovering how the
story ended, I would flip back to where I left off. My curiosity assuaged, the
anticipation gone.
How Will Your Story End?
I find that I do this less
often with books now, but still attempt to treat life that way.
As a single woman at thirty, I
wonder whether I will eventually get married, or if it is God’s will for me to
remain single.
Not yet knowing the answer, I
just want to flip to the right page to find out.
As my parents continue getting
older, I wonder how much time I have left with them.
It would be great to know now
if nonbelievers whom I love and have witnessed to for years will one day
believe.
I find myself, like a
detective, looking right and left for signs and clues for what will happen. How
is this story going to end?
I just want to read the end of
the book already, and avoid all of the in-between chapters that seem so long.
It’s as if, like Eve, I
believe the enemy’s lie that God is withholding something from me that I
“need.”
I need to know. I need just one bite. I need
just one peek at the last few pages of the story.
The Point of Every Chapter
That’s not how it works,
writes Paul Tripp. We do not need to know everything we think we need to know.
Thankfully I am not the author
of my own personal story.
Your story isn’t an
autobiography either. Your story is a biography of wisdom and grace written by
another.
Every turn he writes into your
story is right. Every twist of the plot is for the best.
Every new character or
unexpected event is a tool of his grace. Each new chapter advances his purpose.
(New Morning Mercies)
By God’s grace, I am learning
that in these in-between chapters, character development takes place.
He’s teaching me trust,
patience, and how to wait on him through the unknown.
Just like with fictional
characters, unexpected twists and turns and trials come into our lives, many of
them being entirely out of our control.
But the author always knows
how the story is going to end before the characters do.
The Author of Your Faith
When I fix my eyes back on
Jesus, I recall that he is the author and finisher of my faith (Hebrews 12:2), and will lead me to a beautiful
destination — a destination that will bring him glory.
I have no need to anxiously
distrust him and fear what is written in my chapters ahead.
I can rely on his faithfulness
as a Shepherd to guide me to the end.
I can depend on him, because I
know that “for those who love God all things work together for good,
for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
I desire to one day say with a
thankful heart what John Piper once wrote: “In all these years, the
grace of God had driven me deeper into God in desperation, rather than driving
me away from God in anger” (Future Grace).
As my story continues, I want
to testify through to the very last chapter that, even though impatience tried
its best to take a hand at writing my story, all of the in-between chapters of
waiting developed me and deepened my love and reliance for God, my Author.
Kariana Reyes (@Kariana417) received her B.A. in
Literature and Writing from the University of California.
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