The best part about watching a movie based on a book that you’ve already read is that you have a frame of reference within which to place the important details of the story. Take Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, for example. (*SPOILER ALERT: References to both HP6 & HP7 plot content follow!)

If you’ve read through book six (HP & the H-BP), you know that Dumbledore dies. It is a tragic turn of events, indeed, and the whole wizarding community (sans Death Eaters, naturally) collectively mourns his loss. However, it isn’t until the seventh and final book (HP & the Deathly Hallows) when you understand more fully why he died. So many things become clearer as the tale unfolds!

In the movie version, we can hear Dumbledore plead with Severus and see the pained expression on his aged face: “Please …” as if begging him to spare his life. We don’t yet know that Dumbledore was actually asking Severus to honor his pledge to complete the deed himself. We know that Severus made the Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa and that his own life is on the line if he does not fulfill Draco’s objective, but what we don’t yet know is that Dumbledore was already dying. We don’t yet know that he and Severus made a pact toward this precise end. We don’t yet know that by obliging Dumbledore’s command to kill him that night, Severus not only fulfilled his promise to spare the headmaster a most grueling and painful impending death, but he also spared Draco the damnation of being a murderer. In the context of the whole story, Severus was not a murderer at all. But we don’t know that yet.

Instead, we relate to the character of Harry, who in the throws of mourning blamed himself for not coming to Dumbledore’s aid. He reflects back on the events of that evening and considers it all a waste. He channels his anger and regret into hatred toward Severus Snape. Isn’t that just like us in real life? When things go seemingly well and our friends & loved ones are happy and healthy, then we praise God for his goodness. But when our circumstances change for the worse, we blame the fallen world in which we live.

The Bible tells us that Christ is the same today as he was yesterday and no different from how he’ll be tomorrow (Hebrews 13:8). If that is true (and I believe it is), then doesn’t it mean that even our tragedies somehow fit into God’s bigger plan for our lives, for others’ lives, for the world? It’s difficult when we’re so close to a situation and the pain of the loss is so raw to be able to see how it might fit into the big picture of God’s will.

I will never know why God saved my brother once from a serious car accident all those years ago, yet let him die in a different type of accident this year. However, I do know that God can (and has … and will …) use the situation to his glory. If one person comes to a personal relationship with Christ as the result of Nathan’s story, then in the grand scheme of eternity, I would have to say that it was worth it. Not in a crass or flippant sense, of course – because I certainly wish it had never happened and would do anything in my power to undo it! I just mean that if his life, even through his death, prompted another life to turn to Christ, then it was a life worth living. I don’t have the benefit of hindsight, because the last chapters haven’t been revealed to me yet. I just have to walk by faith and trust that the same God who loved me and led me on Jan. 22 did not change during the dark hours of Jan. 23 and will be the same God who loves and leads me tomorrow.