We Know the Ending!

This past football season there were a few times that I couldn’t be on my couch ready for the start of an Aggie football game. So my friend was gracious enough to record it so we could start it later.  All of us in the room turned off social media and in some cases our phones so we would not know what was happening.  We wanted the full experience. We wanted to feel the highs and lows of the game as our team either scored or was scored upon, whether we were ahead of behind, we wanted to be in the moment.

Now, don’t get me wrong… I think it is fun to experience the true emotions of an experience and it’s fun to go through the experience with people that we love. But it got me to thinking the other day about how I approach life.  All too often the circumstances in life get really get me down. I feel great despair when I look at where our country is headed, when I see depravity of mankind or when my dreams don’t come true. And these emotions are real and at times very right for the situation BUT they are not always reliable and at times mask some very important truth. 

GOD WINS!

He defeated death on the cross…

But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 

It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown.

For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever.

And we who are living will also be transformed.

For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die;

our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die,

this Scripture will be fulfilled:

“Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power.

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable.

Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do

for the Lord is ever useless. 

1 Corinthians 15:51-58

His promises always come true, including the one that says He is preparing a place for us and that He will come back for us.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm,

for God can be trusted to keep his promise. 

Hebrews 10:23

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.

There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.

If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?

When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

John 14:1-3

One day, every knee will bow at the power of His name.

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, 

to the glory of God the Father.

Philippians 2:9-10

Too often when circumstances come into my life I get caught up in the moment, I fall into deep despair or heartache and I forget that I know the ending score. I forget that death has been beaten. I forget that it is finished! I forget this is light and momentary. I forget that He is sovereign and allows only what is good in my life. I forget that I am not alone. I forget!

So I’m grateful that I have friends who sit with me in the sadness of my current circumstance, friends who don’t try to fix me or move me too quickly through grief or pain. But I’m also grateful that they remind me of the truth of who God is. That they help me to step back and remember who I am, who’s I am and the truth of the “end of the story.”

And I’m grateful for a God is who is patient with me when I forget. That He gently reminds me of His goodness, His love, and His presence. May we all live our lives fully present in the moment BUT in light of the truth of the ending!