I have found myself meditating on the state of things reaching an end. How it is that something becomes final? That place of finality where there is no more room for change or second chances. It’s just over. Is it a perception or a reality?
Random House dictionary defines the word final as: Pertaining to or coming at the end, ultimate, conclusive or decisive, constituting the end or purpose. It is a word that doesn’t offer hope of what’s next. In some cases maybe final is a good thing, but I’m considering that it also is a word that manipulates and imprisons us to a present that can never be changed.
I have led the Christian portion of my life by the belief that when the Bible tells us we are to live from faith to faith and glory to glory, that I can then believe that my best days are always in front of me. Yet even with that knowledge I find myself viewing many things with a finality that defies the very beliefs that I hold on to.
How many of us have looked in the mirror and watched the 10 lbs. we need to lose grow into 50? The dead end job we keep saying we are going to leave is still a permanent fixture in our lives? The one year off from college is now 20? The troubled marriage has become too exhausting to fix so you just exist? Any one of these or many others can become the roadblock that defines a state of finality in your life. When your present seems unchangeable, then your future is just going to be a repeat of today…over and over.
The Bill Murray movie “Groundhog Day” tells the story of a man replaying the same day over and over. He would try to do things differently, but would always end right back where he started. How many of us can relate to this as we live lives that no matter what we do we still end up right back where we started from?
May I suggest that the enemy of our soul has no desire for a quick destruction of you? It is much more enjoyable for him to slowly strip away your hope, destroy your faith, and leave you as a cautionary testimony to anyone who would dare to trust in God. The sound of a defeated believer who has come to accept that this is as good as it gets and nothing will ever change.
Today may I offer a glimmer of hope. Nothing is permanent. Even death is but a new beginning. The finality in one thing marks the beginning in another. We can’t change all of the external pressures and disappointments in our lives, but it is our internal responses that determine just how final something is or isn’t. We have been given power through the Holy Spirit to make changes that have been so long delayed that they now seem impossible. The decision of another that has broken your heart doesn’t have to become an irrevocable present. You can rise above this roadblock no matter what the size.
The answer is simple. Turn your eyes to Jesus. Look up and stop looking down. Easy…no, possible…yes. Why, because we were made to be victorious, but victory is a choice. Chose life today and find out that your future can be better than any present.