Do You Know the Ending?

When I was in college, I went to my friend Kristine’s house for dinner with her family. Following dinner, they asked if I’d be interested in joining them for a family movie night. The film was Amelia. A biopic of Amelia Earhart starring Hillary Swank. 

For the most part, I remember it being very light-hearted and endearing, lacking the dramatic flair that I am typically drawn to in a film. That is, until the end. 

In the final scenes of the movie, Earhart is trying to make contact over the radio without any success. Unbeknownst to her, the signal is getting through to the intended party but there is a thick overcast which prohibits her from seeing their smoke signals. The movie ends with a voice-over, sad overlay of music, and her husband standing on the shoreline looking out toward the ocean and sky… waiting for her to fly back to him. 

This is the part where I groaned, discouraged. “Oh man. Wow. What a twist.” 

Suddenly, the eyes of the living room turned around and looked strangely at me. I thought to myself, Terrible timing, Kari. Let these people watch the movie without you interjecting every 5 minutes!

Kristine spoke first. “Wait. What do you mean? What twist?” she snickered.

“Well, I just didn’t see that coming,” I commented. “She died without having finished what she really set out to do. That’s just so sad!” I couldn’t quite convey what I was feeling. That ending just seemed way too abrupt to me.  

It became obvious to me that I was on the outside of some weird inside joke. Soon every member of her family was holding back laughter. These incredibly polite people just could not help themselves! 

What?! I thought. What is so funny?!  

Apparently I was the only one who slept through history class and completely missed the part about Amelia Earhart dying while trying to circumnavigate the globe, being lost at sea over the Pacific Ocean, and all of the conspiracy theories that claim she’s still alive somewhere hanging out in hiding with Elvis Presley. 

Not knowing the ending of that story, I watched the entire movie with this hopeful optimism for our underdog, Amelia. So of course it came as a crushing blow to find out that the movie’s heroine dies mid-flight! 

Fast forward to a few nights ago. I’m watching yet another biopic on the budding friendship of country legends Loretta Lynn and Patsy Cline. The movie highlights Cline and Lynn’s start of career, flaws within their marriages and parenting, along with the difficulties faced being women in a predominantly male industry. 

This time, I had the foreknowledge that Patsy Cline died early on in her career. In a plane accident, mind you. So I’m watching this movie with such sorrow in my heart, knowing full well that this story doesn’t have a Hallmark ending. I couldn’t commit to being emotionally present in the plot because my heart was being guarded by the inevitable.

I started to think back on that time I made a fool of myself while watching Amelia at the Malones’ house over a decade ago and I made some connections. 

In my life as a believer in Christ Jesus, which ending am I more aware of? Am I walking around with the foreknowledge that Christ died, or am I walking into each moment knowing that He has Risen? Both are true. While one might compel me to live a life of gratitude, the other draws me into life everlasting and empowers me to step out triumphantly into each day as Jesus did that Palm Sunday some 2,000 years ago. 

We have the best story to tell. We have the best news. People all over our community are living life thinking that there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. No hope for the dark days they find themselves in. We have the foreknowledge of a living hope and His name is Jesus! Emmanuel! Savior of the World! Hosanna in the Highest!

This week, you have the juiciest spoiler alert for saints and sinners alike. When we walk through these stories–Palm Sunday, The Last Supper, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday– bear in mind the final scenes of God’s story… our story.

See, the ending to our story is that there is no ending. 

In Him we have eternal hope and glory, boundless blessings, abiding grace, unrelenting love, an unbreakable covenant, and a love without end. 

I pray this over you today as we step into Holy Week. May you walk in its truth. 

-Kari 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”

- 1 Peter 1:3-4 

 

Turn Out of the Cul-de-sac

 The success of my faith does not rely on me. I am merely the successor to a sustainable God who always succeeds and claims Victory in all things. The sooner I realize this, the sooner I stop the cycle of thinking that a successful God is disappointed in my failures. 

Failing is all I feel I do some days. From simple acts of forgetfulness to catastrophic lapses in judgment. I find myself trapped in this cycle. 

My  journey with Jesus enters into this weird cul-de-sac again, and even though I know I can get back out, I’m just kind of tired of being here again! Can I get an amen? 

This Season of Lent may have you struggling with these same thoughts. Perhaps you’ve decided to be more diligent with an area of your life only to find that you dropped the ball in the FIRST WEEK. Why is that? What is happening? How do we get out of this funk? 

I’ve thought a lot about this and I believe it boils down to a matter of perspective. 

I believe that some of us have a picture of a God that stands at the altar and accepts our praise, our confession, and our heart-felt offerings. He stands there and is pleased with us. He stands there and comforts us. But He just stands there. 

We need to instead envision the true nature of God. Because the truth is this: 

He didn’t stay in the Sanctuary that Wednesday afternoon. 
He didn’t call it a night after Pastor David gave the benediction.
He went home with each and everyone of us. 
He had breakfast with us the next morning. 
He heard and saw everything we did to please Him in and out of our homes. 
On our drive to work, 
Standing in line with us at the grocery store,
Walking with us each and every step of the way as we worked toward living a holy and pleasing life for Him. Never far from Him. 

He never doubts that He will be successful in His pursuit of us. Let not the enemy have us believing the lie that we are unsuccessful in our pursuit of Him. 

Jess Connolly puts it plainly in her book entitled Dance, Stand, Run. 

"I need not be working to become a better person…I merely need to agree , or become who God has already made me to be.” She adds “He does the heavy lifting (by sending Jesus and offering us grace) and we do the agreeing- with our lives, our days, our spare time, our decisions, our relationships…The incredible act of being holy, for us, is one of acknowledgment and confirmation."

Today friends, I pray that you stop working so hard to do something that has already been done for you. Step into agreement with God’s Spirit working within you, acknowledge the work of Jesus in your life, and see Him sitting right across the room from you. Beside you at your desk, sitting on the floor as you work through your third basket of laundry, perched on a stool at your Kitchen counter. Wherever work is being done, He is there. He knows the difficulties we face in our pursuit to obey. Our High Priest, our ManGod, our Savior and Friend, says to you, “Hey, you. I’m here and I love you. Look no further. I am not far. Let me be your strength. Let me breathe into you a fresh start. I’m your confidant, your confidence, and comfort. I am with you and for you.” 

Take heart. He has overcome the world, and all the shortcomings you’ll face in this Lenten Season. Regardless of what you’ve sacrificed for Lent, be reminded that our greatest act ought to be leaning into Jesus. Have you lent Him your efforts? Have you asked Him to partner with you in your pursuit?

Let’s start today. Turn out of the cul-de-sac with me, wave “Hi” to me on the road. Encourage one another on the way. Accept the grace of God in your life:)

Your sister in Christ, 

                        Kari Banks