Doubting the End of the Story

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;

John 11:25

The great Christian hope isn't just eternal life, or even forgiveness of our sins, it is experiencing a physical resurrection from the dead and being a completely new and glorified body. If you really pause to think about that, it tells us a lot about our God.

Notice, for example that He doesn’t spare us the pain of death or the hardship of life and simply take us up to Heaven to be with Him now. No! He chooses to give us life on the other side of death and hardship. This means that God doesn’t always allow us to avoid suffering, sometimes He wants us to pass through it, just like Jesus did. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when we suffer hardship or even death. It doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us. In fact, it may be when God is working in us and through us the most! You see, the hope of resurrection should change how we respond to difficulty and death. It should give us the hope we need to persevere through hardship and suffering without losing faith. 

Think about it. With Jesus, no matter how bad your life gets, you can’t lose. You already know how your story ends. In that way, it's kind of like one of those sports underdog movies. You know who is going to win before you even start the movie, but they often do a really good job making you think that maybe, just maybe, you’re wrong and the underdog is going to lose. The more they can make you doubt the ending, the more entertaining the movie is. So, they have become very skilled at making you doubt how the story is going to end. This gives the movie a sense of unpredictability even though we know that it is entirely predictable. 

The same is true of your life. We have an Adversary who is very, very good at getting us to doubt how it’s all going to end. But if you’re a believer then your story has never been in doubt. No matter how bad things get, no matter how low your life sinks or how difficult it becomes, in the end you will win. So, don’t lose faith! “Press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil 3:14) Press on, because you can’t lose! Your victory has been secured. It’s in the bag! What you are living for now is just to show God thanks, to point others down the right path and to lay up rewards for yourself in heaven.