Wait for it.
Tell me if I'm the only one who does this:
When I'm watching a really good movie or reading a riveting book, and I get to the climax, the part with the most drama, I pause. While the tension builds and the conclusion is about to come, I pause because I want to save the good ending. I want to linger in the tension for a little bit. I do this for a couple reasons. For one, I know that I'm going to really enjoy the ending. I know it's going to provide the resolve I've been waiting for. It's like saving the best part of the dessert until the end - like the crispy + soft top you pull off a muffin, or the sugar crumble on warm apple crisp. Secondly, I want to be fully prepared to experience the resolution. I want to enjoy it to the best of my ability. I want the ending to satisfy and be all that it was meant to be.
Before the guy gets the girl.
Before the war is won.
Before the poetic words bring the entire picture into focus.
Before the ring is destroyed and the hobbits return home.
I linger in the climax, I linger right before the resolve to say, Oh man, it’s coming and I’m going to savor this ending forever!
(What if it’s a tragic ending with seemingly no hope or resolve? Keep reading!)
The end of a story is only great because of all the parts written before it. You can't write a stand-alone ending. It wouldn't make sense, and it most certainly wouldn't be amazing. A good ending needs the proper build up. I love how Joe Bunting describes it in his article Climax of a Story:
“The climax in a story is the point, usually near the end of the third act, where the value of the story is tested to its highest degree.”
You know the screenwriter or author did their work if you feel the need to pause or hold your breath just near the end. If you feel excitement, tension, eagerness, joyful anticipation, and desperation for a proper ending, the author set you up well. That is talent — true psychological talent.
“If your story isn’t good, the climax will be muddled or boring. A good story, though, will bring together all the tension that has been building since the exposition [introduction] into one perfect scene that overwhelms the audience and leaves them in awe.” - Joe Bunting
Patience is knowing how to sit in the "before" and embracing the in-between because you know the glory it will deliver in the end. It’s easier to wait if you’re the author. When you see the arc of the story -- the character set-up, where the narrative rises and falls, and all the battles that end the entire war -- you know the conclusion will be worth the wait. You know your audience will be satisfied, they just need to get through all the necessary parts in order to encounter the resolution properly. The author is essentially saying, “Wait for it. It’s going to be good.”
There are books you have no patience for and you skip right to the end. Then there are books where you gladly feast on the meat of the story, even though you desperately want the resolve. I recently read a book that made me feel the latter. The author was sharing about a depressive season in his life, and I wanted to see how it resolved. But the way he depicted his grief made me feel connected to him, human to human. While I felt uncomfortable reading it, there was an okay-ness to his pain. Instead of rushing through the sad parts, I took it line by line to notice how he was building the story. I felt seen as he described his own distress. I paused before the last page, and just sat in the feelings of affliction. I sat in what was real.
The build up, the backstory, and the details the author wrote were important parts of the story. Without it, it wouldn’t be his story. The best part was, there wasn’t a perfect resolve or photo finish. Rather, he ended it with unresolved feelings sheltered in hope. I think hope sits with us more than a perfect conclusion does.
While we want resolution to our problems or to see healing happen in our bodies, God sees the arc of our stories. He sees each part as an integral part to our completion. We may experience small endings in this life — necessary goodbyes or well deserved accomplishments. Such endings speak victory, joy, and illustrate mercy. Yet, our unfinished moments, our breaking moments, are a kind of mercy too, if not more so. These are the climactic moments in our life when we feel the most tension — moments of despair, darkness, and even painstaking hope. Moments when the value of our faith, love, and trust is tested to the highest degree.
PAUSE.
These are the moments in our story where things are breaking off of you. Things that don’t work anymore, like old coping mechanisms, addictions, and destructive behaviors that need to crumble in order to deliver you to freedom. A place where we experience transformation and holy consolation at its fullest. So linger in the climax, that is actually mercy and kindness taking you to a breathtaking conclusion.
“Our breaking moments are a kind of mercy too.”
We may not always get the perfect resolve we’re looking for in this life. Yet, we are blessed to walk through the beginning and middle, because we’re promised something bigger than what we see now, 10 days from now, or even 10 years from now. We’re promised everlasting intimacy with the God of the Universe.
Pause in your climactic moments, even though they feel endless and lack clear chapters. There’s a bigger story happening. The author of creation is saying, “Wait for it, our conclusion is going to be good.”
Promised Conclusions
“What happiness comes to you when you feel your spiritual poverty! For yours is the realm of heaven’s kingdom. What delight comes to you when you wait upon the Lord! For you will find what you long for. What blessing comes to you when gentleness lives in you! For you will inherit the earth. How enriched you are when you crave righteousness! For you will be satisfied. How blessed you are when you demonstrate tender mercy! For tender mercy will be demonstrated to you. What bliss you experience when your heart is pure! For then your eyes will open to see more and more of God. How joyful you are when you make peace! For then you will be recognized as a true child of God. How enriched you are when persecuted for doing what is right! For then you experience the realm of heaven’s kingdom.
How blessed you are when people insult and persecute you and speak all kinds of cruel lies about you because of your love for me! So leap for joy—since your heavenly reward is great. For you are being rejected the same way the prophets were before you.”
Matthew 5:3-12 (TPT)
Resources:
Climax of a Story: Definition, Examples, and Writing Tips by Joe Bunting
The Structure(s) of Story by Cole Nussabaumer Knaflic