It Helps When We Know How Things Will End

With football season only a couple of weeks away, avid fans are anticipating the excitement, anxiety and uncertainty that starts with the opening kickoff and continues until the final seconds tick off the clock. The excitement comes from watching athletes competing against each other, seeing them perform at levels that average guys like me can’t even imagine doing. We marvel at their strength, speed and skill.

 

The anxiety and uncertainty, however, are caused by not knowing the final outcome of the games. Especially in rivalry games, or contests when the teams seem evenly matched, nails are chewed, feet paced, TVs yelled at, and things even get tossed in frustration. When the favorite team falls behind, we wonder, ‘How will they be able to catch up?’ Even when our team is in the lead, we fret over whether they can hold onto the winning margin.

Would our nerves be on edge and emotions so close to boiling over if we knew the outcome in advance? Of course not. If you’ve ever recorded a game to watch later and took a peek at the final score, viewing the replay didn’t make you as nervous. Right?

 

It's similar with watching a fast-paced movie thriller or reading a riveting murder mystery. The suspense keeps us on edge, even if we have a strong suspicion good will conquer evil at the end. But if we’ve read the “spoiler alert,” or if someone has already told us it was Mr. Mustard in the library with the candlestick who did it, we’re not as likely to hear Carly Simon’s “Anticipation” running through our minds.

 

These days there’s lots to feel anxious and uncertain about. Covid-19 has become the virus that refuses to go away, despite the vaccines, masks, social distancing and shutdowns we were told would deter it. “Inflation” has returned to our vocabularies, with prices for gas, groceries and just about everything going up. Many of us have decided watching the news isn’t good for our mental and emotional health, with the relentless gloom-and-doom, “the sky is falling” reporting. Living in constant fear and doubt aren’t good neighborhoods.

 

We find ourselves on edge, our tension levels high, because in life – as in sports and entertainment – we often don’t know how things are going to end. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some way to be able to turn to the last page and learn everything is going to work out?

 

Actually, there is a way. One many people choose not to use. It’s the Bible, which candidly and honestly records humanity’s faults and failings, but also presents God’s solutions – including a happy ending. In fact, Jesus Christ declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). 

 

He also asserted that by following Him, we can have confidence things will end very, very well. Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms…. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:1-3).

 

Fear and uncertainty regarding the future have been a common companions throughout history. Writing to Christ followers in ancient Corinth, the apostle Paul gave this assurance: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed…then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.’… But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:51-56).

 

Because of this great, unwavering promise, we can embrace for ourselves the admonition Paul gave to his young protégé, Timothy, reminding him, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

 

So whenever we find ourselves feeling fearful or anxious, for whatever reason, we need to remember God has already written the ending to this grand story. It will be glorious, more joyous than anything our finite minds can imagine. 

We read in the final book of the Bible, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’” (Revelation 21:1-4). 

Don’t you just love happy endings?