For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. – Jeremiah 29:11
I’m a sucker for Hallmark movies, especially around Christmas. I know a lot of people hate on Hallmark movies because they’re predictable and we all know how they’ll end.
But that’s why I love them!
Life is unpredictable, and sometimes it’s nice to watch something where I know what’s going to happen.
Besides, not the whole movie is predictable. Yes, I know a small-town character and a big-city character will fall in love and the big-city character will return to said big city and realize they love small towns. But what happens between the meet-cute and the happily-ever-after is always different. I can’t predict their conversations or who will be the funnier character. So while I may not be in suspense the whole time, I can still enjoy the journey to the end.
And that’s what it is, a journey.
But you know what I realized while I was trying to justify my Hallmark habit? We know the ending to life.
What do I mean?
Well, there are actually two endings we know. The first is where we go when we die. The Bible says that believers will have eternal life (John 3:15-16).
The second is what’s going to happen at the end of the world. Thanks to Revelation, we know that Satan will be defeated.
What we don’t know for sure is what will happen between now and then. What will occur before our own happy ending? What roadblocks will we encounter? What happy memories will we make?
What will our journey look like?
When we realize we do in fact have an expected end, that we’ll be with Christ, it can change our whole perspective. We can stop worrying about the future and focus on today. On the little, unexpected moments. On the surprises. The jokes and laughter. The successes. We can focus on learning from our mistakes and moving forward, knowing that no matter what, God has this under control.
We can enjoy the journey instead of worrying over the ending.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Jennifer Purcell
Featured Image by Georgia Vagim on Unsplash
