To Live is Christ — PBPGIFWMY

Last night I finished a novel that had one of those endings I wanted to rewrite. Throughout the story, the characters faced conflict between their sinful selves and the Holy Spirit who lived in them. As with my experience, the Holy Spirit is true to the promises of God. While His people may slide backwards, He eventually brings us back to Himself. But this book finished with one of the main characters sliding backwards. The end.

I know, life sometimes looks like that, but in this story I felt left with no closure, no sense of the redemptive power of God, although it was clearly illustrated throughout the rest of the book. Is there a sequel in the works? Was this a cliff-hanger designed to entice me to purchase the next book?

I went to sleep imagining a better ending. While the problems of this character were too large to make a perfect ending, my ending at least showed growth in her. She recognized her sin and yielded herself to the amazing power of God. Life is not a novel, yet walking with God holds great promise for happy endings. 

But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:4–7)

Feasting on these words soothes that taste of “unfinished” left in my mouth from that book. The Book affirms that God is rich in mercy. He makes us alive in Christ. He gives us victory over sin. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

We will end well. Even each battle has a purpose toward that ending. Romans 8:28-29 promises this, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. . . .”

I suppose if my life were a novel and the author stopped in any one of a number of places, readers would feel robbed of a good ending. At times, I’ve skittered out of control, or seemed to regress in my spiritual walk with Jesus. Ending the novel at that place would present an incomplete picture of how the Lord works. It would be a poor testimony of His grace. But my story does not end there.

The letters PBPGIFWMY stand for, “Please be patient; God isn’t finished with me yet.” I sometimes put them at the bottom of a note or an email, and think that the author of that novel should have at least placed them on the last page. They are far more true to the way God does things than “The End” will ever be.