How It Ends

How It Ends

Late the other night Jeff told me the 2019 National Championship Game featuring Alabama and Georgia was on. He was watching so I turned over and did too. I remember that night, the angst Tide fans felt. Those in my texting group had watched the Tide struggle through the first half, never leading during regulation of the game. I remember how each of us was pretty convinced we would not win that game. I remember the second-guessing of Coach Nick Sabin, abandoning a 24-2 starter for a true freshman, Tua Tagovailoa. I remember, as a fan, how nervous I was with each snap of the ball. Any outsider looking in would have bet on a Tide loss that night.

But that was then. Watching the game the other night with the knowledge of what was coming was very different. Gone was the unease, the butterflies, the nervousness of the coming play. I knew that come what may, in overtime, that true freshman would be sacked on 1st down for a tough loss of 16 yards, but the very next play he would throw a perfect 41-yard pass to his eventual Heisman candidate, Devon Smith, that would go down in Alabama football history as perhaps the greatest play ever. I knew we would win.

Spiritually speaking that is why I put my faith in God (Hebrews 12:2). Down here below we tremble and quake, we wonder and worry, we waffle with what “plays to call” and are sometimes nervous about the outcome (1 Peter 1:6). Our own angst embarrasses us (Matthew 6:25-ff). Our lack of faith often paints us more as Thomas than Peter (John 20:27; Matthew 14:28-29). We’d do well to pick up the book and “re-watch” the “game.” God and those with Him win. Faith is knowing how it ends.

“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death” - Revelation 12:11. It may be tough here, but you know how it ends!