Spoiler Alert

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."

We have a tendency to always expect good things to happen, or good trends to continue.  We feel like we deserve good fortune.  We expect a promising young athlete to improve every single year.  We expect the stock market and profits and our company’s production to always go up.

When these things do not happen, we panic.  We do not handle bad news well.  And yet, as we demonstrated earlier this week, bad news and suffering are inevitable.  Progress hardly ever follows a linear path.  Why are we surprised when we have trials?

A mature believer should not be taken by surprise when bad news arrives.  Jesus predicted it for us—again and again.  If we take him at his word, we should expect it.  This is a broken world.  Of course things will go wrong.

And yet, we can weather the storm in joy and contentment.  Why?  Because we know how the story ends.  We know that this, too, shall pass.  God already spoiled it for us.

Look forward to the day when your faith is made sight.  Persevere.  Endure.  Run the race set out before you.  Look forward to the day when your pain is taken away, and the tears wiped from your eyes.  We have seen all of God’s Word come true.  We can believe this part, too:

Jesus wins in the end.