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It was the 1993 NBA Finals and I was an avid Michael Jordan fan. The Chicago Bulls were up three games to two against the Phoenix Suns with Game 6 being a closeout game at America West Arena in Phoenix. I had watched every game in the series but missed Game 6 due to a preaching engagement that night. After the church service, I had a three-hour drive home and I was eager to find out if the Bulls had won the game. Back then we didn’t have smart phones and ESPN apps but I did have an awesome grandmother. She not only watched the game for me, but she taped the entire game on VHS so that I could watch it later. Here’s where some of my younger readers may need to do a Wikipedia search to find out what a VHS tape is!
That night, when I got home, Granny told me all about the game. She assured me the Bulls had won the championship and even gave me details on how John Paxson hit the title winning three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left on the clock. Later, when I went back and watched the tape for myself, I watched the entire game differently than I would’ve had it been live. There were times in the fourth quarter that should’ve been anxious moments for me because it seemed the Suns had taken control of the game. But I already knew the outcome of the game. I knew the final score—and knowing how it ended changed the way I watched the game.
It is no news flash that we are living in troubled times. And the speed in which fear can travel is unprecedented. A hundred years ago, a tragedy could take place on the other side of the world and you might not hear about it for days, if not weeks. Yet today we can witness terrorist acts, unspeakable atrocities, and vicious acts of violence happening all over the world in real time from the very palms of our hands. It’s hard to live with peace in such a stressful world when our mobile devices keep us engaged to the reality of evil and the worst of humanity on a moment’s notice.
Everywhere we look there is human suffering and deplorable injustices. And on some days, if not most, it seems like the forces of darkness have taken control of the game. How can we not be anxious? How can we not give in to fear?
We have to remember that we’ve already been given assurance as to the final outcome of this series of hardships called life. For those of us who believe and trust in God’s Word, we know what the final scoreboard will read. We know who wins in the end. And the more we can reorient our days around those truths that God has promised us, the more peace we will experience in this journey.
Job was a man who experienced unimaginable suffering. In the Old Testament book of the Bible that bears his name, we see a man who God allows to suffer directly at the hand of Satan. Job absorbs the worst of human suffering and yet remains faithful to God as one who was able to see the very outcome of his life: “For I know that my Redeemer lives,” he declares. “And at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God.” (Job 19:25-26 ESV)
Perhaps as Job considers that future generations might indeed read his words, it stirs him to a triumphant proclamation of faith. There is certainty in his statement. This wasn’t just something he guessed at, it was something he knew. Job was convinced that one day he would ultimately see God in the flesh and that the great Redeemer of life would indeed make all things GOOD.
God is still in control, beloved. And He is still on His throne. Jesus assured His followers that they could live with peace in a world rife with crisis and paralyzed by fear. He said, “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.” (John 16:33 ESV)
John wrote: “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (1 John 5:4 ESV)
We see in Job, Jesus, and John, imagery of strength for troubled times. They all give us snapshots of what it looks like to live like we know the outcome of life. Our Redeemer lives. Our God is triumphant. Evil will be defeated. The pain is temporary and the suffering is transient. Beauty will rise from these ashes. Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, you can face tomorrow. We know who holds the future.
Proverbs 23:18 is one of those passages I love to read in the old King James English: “For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.”
Take courage in that as you abide in Him today.
When you know that your Redeemer lives, you approach life differently and experience a wondrous peace even in troubled times.
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