"[Don't] Read the Last Page First"

My graduation open house was several weeks ago. Part of a very kind gift from an aunt was a bag of Dove dark chocolates (my mouth waters just thinking about them) which I, being stuffed from the other open house leftovers, put away in my Aragorn lunchbox (yes, I have an Aragorn lunchbox) to save for later. I remembered them today and ate several. Upon removing the first wrapper, these words of wisdom from Dove chocolates greeted my eyes:

I shook my head, laughing inwardly, because I have accidentally read the last pages of books first, and it always ruined the experience for me. I would know who married whom, who died and who didn't, and all that stuff. Then I opened another (hey, the serving size was 5 chocolates, okay?!) and saw the same message, "Read the last page first," again. I don't know why, but that message has been on my mind all day since then. 

I have always liked to know the plan. I like to have all my ducks in a row, my shelves organized, and purse filled with useful things that I may need for where I'm going. I would like to read the "last page" of my own story first, so that I'll know where I'm going and how to get there, planning ahead. But the thing is, life isn't like that. It throws things in your face that you would never expect, things so unlike what you want that you wish you COULD see into the future, read your last page and say, "Oh, I see! That's where I'm going. I will now plan accordingly." 

The characters in a book can never see where they're going until they get there and look back, until the author is finished writing their story and allows them to "live happily ever after"(or not--I mean, they don't HAVE to live happily ever after). All of us have a story, just as much as Frodo Baggins, Lucy Pevensie, or Elizabeth Bennet have stories.  Some of us have stories more stressful, more tragic, or harder than others, just like those made-up characters, and all of our stories share the same Author; an Author who is not just making up pretend characters in a pretend world, who created us as real characters in a very real world. And the cool thing? He loves us more than I (or any human author) love my characters. One way or another, He'll get us through our mortal lives, over hill and under hill, to our "happily ever after," when we finally get to MEET our author, join the great story that never ends, and finally understand why He wrote what He wrote about us. We can look back and say, "Oh, I see why this character had to die," or "I understand now why I had to endure that trial," because then we'll be at the very end of this story, just before the words "Happily ever after" are written. 

You know, I'm rambling, but I just kept thinking about this and wanted to write it down somehow so that I don't forget my musings. And I don't know if my writing makes any sense whatsoever to anyone, but I hope so. We weren't made to read the last page first. We are ink in the pen of the greatest Author in the history of everything, and it's fair enough that that the Author decides what to do with us. After all, He created us.