Saturday, October 13, 2012

IT HELPS TO KNOW HOW IT ENDS

. . . I heard a voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling of God is with men.  He will dwell with them and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them;  he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:3-4).

The Iowa Hawkeyes had a bye week on their football schedule last week, so when I saw they were replaying the 2009 game with Michigan State on the Big Ten Network, I had to watch.  The Hawks were ahead by 3 with just a couple minutes to go.  Then, suddenly Michigan State started moving the ball and they scored a touch down and an extra point to put them 4 ahead of Iowa and leaving less time on the clock than I thought was possible for the Hawkeyes to score a touch down for the win.  But I saw the game in 2009 and I knew that Iowa won it, so I was relaxed as I watched the final seconds unfold.  On the very last play with 2 seconds to go, Iowa quarterback, Ricky Stanzi passed to Marvin Mcnutt in the end zone for the touchdown.  Iowa won!!! When one knows the outcome, it sure cuts down on the stress!

In Christ, we know the outcome of our lives, we win!!!  That does not mean we will not go through some very difficult times, but it does remove a lot of anger, fear, anxiety and grief!  Our hope is not wishful thinking, it is based on the best fact of history, Jesus Christ has risen.  We know how it ends, so relax, it's going to be alright!

Our Father's Love,
Tom

P.S. Iowa faces Michigan State again today--I do not know how this one will turn out, so I am a little anxious.  Pray that the Lord smiles on the Hawkeyes today.

2 comments:

Rebecca said...

The Lord was smiling on the Hawkeyes on Saturday. It would have been fun to watch the game with you. I agree...it is always nice to know how something will turn out.

Tom said...

I have been expecting a comment from Husker Red. When the Huskers do not win every game they think they have fallen on hard times. My suspicion is that HR has been feeling "down in the dumps" lately.

On Saturday nite, you can sit on the couch and watch Penn and Iowa go at it, knowing I will be sitting on the couch watching the game too--its on the BigTennetwork. I hope the Lord keeps on smiling.

Love, dad