November 21, 2024

Clack clack clack clack!

The sound of rapid-fire typing echoes down the hallway. My friend Elly and I poke our heads through the door to Ed’s office, and we see Ed sitting at his desk, typing a mile a minute using only his pointer fingers.

“How does he do that?” Elly asks, watching in amazement as Ed’s fingers fly over the keyboard with blinding speed. “Honestly, I don’t know. But he won a typing contest when he was drafted into the army, so maybe he’s onto something,” I say and laugh.

Ed hears us and turns around to face us with a big smile. “Ah, I’m so glad you are here! I’ve been waiting to tell you about what I’m writing! It’s about when the doctors gave me two years to live.” Elly raises her eyebrows. “I haven’t heard that story yet. How long ago was that?”

Ed thinks for a moment; his hands absently tapping the desk. “Almost fifty years ago now,” he says. As we make ourselves comfortable at the conference table, Ed launches into the story of when he was diagnosed with a terrible case of a disease called Myasthenia Gravis. Although he underwent the best treatment available, which involved constant blood transfusions and countless daily injections, his condition only worsened, and his doctors told him to prepare for the worst.

“It was the hardest time of my life. I could only get through the treatments by thinking about how my family needed me,” Ed continues. “I asked God to show me whether this disease would end my life or whether I would get through it. I prayed for hours, but got no answer.

Finally, God spoke. He told me I would be healed, but it would be a long process, not an instant healing. It took seven years for the healing to be complete, and for a long time, things didn’t get any easier. But after God spoke to me, everything changed, because I had the hope I needed to keep going!”

That’s the power of knowing the end of the story.

Imagine if you were a character in a story. You’re in a moment of deep despair; all your plans seem foiled by the enemy, all your friends seem to have deserted you, and there seems to be no reason to carry on. But what if, somehow, someone came into your world and told you how your story ends? What if they told you that a beautiful future and an assured victory lay ahead of you if you just held on to hope and kept fighting a little bit longer? If that happened, you’d probably be filled with faith and gain the strength to fight through seemingly insurmountable obstacles and impossible odds, because you were assured of a happy ending.

Do you want to know something wonderful? God has already told us how our real-life story ends! We get a glimpse of the future in the book of Revelation:

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.” Revelation 22:1-5

This good news is not just relevant for the future, but for right now, because we know that victory is assured. Instead of being afraid when we see the power of the enemy, either in our personal lives or out in the world, we can take authority as children of God, because we are partners with Jesus in this victorious mission of redemption!

In all of eternity, NOW is the one short moment in which we are placed on this earth and called to live by faith even though we haven’t seen all of God’s promises fulfilled yet. Child of God, you can rise up with confidence and take a bold step of faith now, because you know how this story ends!

– Eutychus