path

"Things will be all right in the end. And if things are not all right, then it is not yet the end."

I watched the movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" with some friends last night. (Good movie. I recommend it.) This line struck me and stuck with me. It's a beautiful thought, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that only Christians can truly claim this as a fact.

I mean, if your hope is only for this physical life, then you have no such guarantee. It's a sad truth that some lives end well, and some end badly. Some in triumph and some in tragedy.

Even for Christians, it's easy to get discouraged sometimes, if we get too caught up in the every-day problems of the every-day world. It's hard to keep a bigger perspective. But if we could, we would remember that we are promised a happy ending. It is guaranteed that Christ will one day reign supreme on this earth and all will be set right.

The problem comes, I think, when we want to see solutions immediately. We want things to be all right, right now. But that isn't what we're promised. We might not see resolutions or answers within our lifetime. But we can be confident that all will ultimately be set straight. We just have to remember, "…if things are not all right, then it is not yet the end.”

I was still mulling this idea over in my head as I read various Psalms today. And I was struck with how many times these passages repeated, “You will lead me on paths of righteousness…” or “You will show me the right path…”

It struck me that God has the end of my path firmly in mind, too. I started wondering why I have been so anxious about the future. Just because I can't see what the next steps are. I have been so focused on figuring it out, I forgot that He's trying to lead me. I need to stop trying so hard and just follow.

And maybe even manage to enjoy the journey a little bit.