And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” Revelation 21:5

I love to read—books, magazines, articles on the Internet, whatever. I come from a long line of readers; I like to think it’s in my genetic makeup.

I was talking recently with another book lover, and I confessed to the habit of reading ahead at times.

My friend laughed and said he couldn’t believe I would do that.

But when the story’s action gets intense or the leading character looks like she might not make it or even if I get bored, I turn to the last few pages of the book.

By knowing the end of the story, I can relax and read the rest of the book at a slower pace.

That way, I don’t miss important details, and I’m not skimming because I’m anxious to know what’s going to happen.

Also, by knowing the end of the story, I can decide if it’s worth the time to keep reading.

Isn’t it that way in our lives, too? Sometimes when our stories look scary, we want to close the book out of fear.

We want to skim over the slow-going parts, like working a job we don’t enjoy.

We want to skip painful life chapters, such as going through a divorce.

And sometimes, we want to read ahead to discover how everything works out; for example, who our children will grow up to be.

Right now we are living in the middle of God’s story.

When the action is intense—your husband has been laid off and you don’t know how you’ll pay the bills; when the plot is heartbreaking—your dad has been diagnosed with a devastating illness; when the story line is exciting—God has called you to another place; in all of these things, we as Jesus followers know how the story ends.

We’ve read ahead. We know the Author’s good plan.

And we can know that the characters in His story—us—are going to make it through to that happiest of all endings.

Jesus wins! He is coming again to restore all things (see Revelation 21:5), and we are on His winning team.

Steps of Faith

Father, as we live in the middle of Your story, we’ve read ahead. We know that You have already won the victory, and we praise You.

Deeper Walk

Revelation 21

This devotional is from The One Year Daily Moments of Peace. Learn more HERE.