I don’t read much fiction these days, but when I do, I love a good mystery. It’s the same with TV shows, I get sucked into a mystery and can’t stop watching.
As a child, I enjoyed a steady diet of mystery novels. Short stories, chapter books, or a book series - it didn’t matter as long as there was an intriguing plot with a super sleuth character to figure it all out. (Nancy Drew was my hero - nothing got by her!)
I think I always felt secure knowing the mystery would be solved because the authors of these stories would always give the main character an unusual knack for solving mysteries. The protagonist was always able to put together pieces of a puzzle when sometimes the other characters didn't even realize there was a puzzle to be put together.
The climax of these novels was when the main character seemed completely stumped by the mystery at hand, none of the clues added up, none of the puzzle pieces fit together. And then, they would be thrown into a scary situation that, thankfully, they had the wits to survive, and that’s when the light bulb would go off in the main character’s brain. The clues suddenly made sense, the puzzle pieces fit. The mystery was solved!
A book style I did not love as a child? The “Choose Your Own Adventure” game book genre. This type of book was written in second person, so the reader becomes the protagonist of the story. It felt exciting to open one of these books for the first time and think I could choose my own story and thereby create a unique series of experiences with a (hopefully) exciting ending. It didn’t take me long to realize this type of book was just not my cup of tea.
The unpredictability of these books caused me so much stress. I was always a “mature-for-my-age” child and I took my reading seriously. Each time a “choose your own adventure” page came up and I had to make a choice, I would immediately hesitate and contemplate.
How do I know I’m choosing the “right” option?
How do I know I’m choosing the best option to get the best outcome?
What if I waste my precious time on a string of adventures that will only end in frustration and having to start over to get the ending I want?
It would frustrate me to no end when I’d choose the “wrong” option and land on a negative ending. I would always find myself flipping through to scan all the possibilities so I could create a “perfect” story and avoid all the stress of not knowing whether the adventures I was choosing would add up to a “good” ending.
Needless to say, I did not keep choosing my own adventures for long and soon returned to my beloved mystery novels and the certainty of a solid, satisfactory conclusion at the end of the adventure. I think I probably also felt a sense of relief that I was no longer the main character having to make blind decisions and hope everything turned out okay.
As an adult, I don’t read as much fiction as I used to, but I do enjoy a good mystery show for all the reasons I loved mystery books as a child. Noticing clues, trying to put the puzzle pieces together with the main character, and of course, trusting the main character to figure it all out because, let’s be honest, I don’t have any idea how to figure it all out.
And that’s one thing I know about mysteries: they're fun to read or to watch when a fictional character is living them and I’m merely observing, but mysteries are not so fun to actually live through and solve in real life when it’s my life I’m trying to figure out. And yet, when I think about it, life really is like one big, long mystery, isn’t it?
If that’s true, then I’m the main character of my story but I can’t solve the mystery.
I don’t know where I’ll be five years from now. I can make plans, set goals, and create all the bucket lists I want, but I’ve lived long enough to be able to say with absolute certainty: I have no idea where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing five years from now. I can’t say where I’ll be one year from now. I can’t even guarantee what tomorrow will look like for me.
I don’t like mysteries in my life. I don’t like uncertainty. I don’t enjoy figuring out clues or trying to put puzzle pieces together that just don’t seem to fit together. I don’t like the feeling of pressure, stress, or responsibility that everything is riding on my ability to make everything come out all right in the end.
And I certainly don’t enjoy facing the obligatory “scary situation” that all main character mystery detectives must face. You know, the big crisis point in the story where the main character is in danger while simultaneously solving the mystery via an epiphany as all the clues come together?
I guess I’m not a good main character. I’m definitely not a good mystery solver. I want to flip ahead a few pages to see what choice I should make now to get the best outcome, but I can’t.
All of this feels pretty depressing until I remember I’m not the main main character in this story. There is a main Main Character, and thankfully, He already knows the ending. The clues don’t stump Him, the puzzle is already together in His mind, and the crisis points in my story definitely don't scare Him. In fact, He probably wouldn’t even call them clues or puzzle pieces or scary situations at all. He’d probably call them growth opportunities, invitations to deeper prayer, or exercises in faith and trust.
I may feel like an unskilled, under-prepared main character trying to make the best choice for the best outcome or trying to solve an unsolvable mystery, but since I personally know the real Main Character of this story and since I also know that not only is He the main Main Character but also the Author of my story, that changes my perspective entirely.
When I know the One who wrote the book, I don’t have to worry about the ending coming out all right. I don’t have to lose sleep over the “clues” that don’t make sense or the “puzzle pieces” that don’t fit together, and I don’t have to be afraid when I find myself in a scary situation.
The Author is there in the midst of it all. He is here in the midst of it all. And He assures me the story of my life is coming together piece by piece, chapter by chapter, just as it should.
Having the Author’s reassurance and journeying with Him through each new chapter of my life has helped me come to know Him in ways I wouldn’t have if I was just focusing on my own story.
In fact, I’ve learned that getting to know the Author of the story is way more exciting than the story itself. And when I’m preoccupied with enjoying the Author, I’m not bothered when a mystery pops up in the middle of a chapter. In His eyes, it’s already solved, and that’s enough for me.
After all, the key to a good story is a good Author.
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Hi! I'm Abigail, your real-talk Christian life coach and faith mentor. I believe we're on this earth for a reason, and I LOVE helping people realize and live that truth so that they can reach their God-given potential in all areas of life.
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