William Shakespeare wrote a play called “All’s Well that Ends Well.” In other words, if the story ends well then living the story is good too.

After reading the last five chapters of Revelation I couldn’t help but come to the conclusion that everything is going to end well for believers. Those ending chapters not only close out a great prophetic book of the Bible but they are also a divine exclamation point on human history. Yes, for believers it ends very well indeed.

Actually the story of human history has a beautiful beginning as well. Reading the opening chapters of Genesis inspires us to adore a God who intimately constructed the universe. He created a perfect place where the human race would not just survive, but thrive. He places the first couple in an extravagant garden and gives them a great big “YES” – “enjoy it all and honor Me through your enjoyment.” And He only gives them a little “no” – “don’t go there, stay away from that which I know will destroy you.”

It’s neither the beginning nor the ending that causes us trouble, it’s the middle. We quickly discover in Genesis that every thing goes south in paradise for Adam and Eve (Genesis 3). No, it didn’t take them long at all. And this is where all of us live – in the middle. We’ve lost our enjoyment of God, we mess up living with others, we’re depressed more than we’re happy, we fight, struggle and just muddle through life hoping to make it to the next fun event. We mark off time hoping retirement will bring us the joy we lost. What a miserable existence.

You see, the problem is that we’ve allowed today’s circumstances to rob us of today’s joy. Bad things dictate our joy when it should be God’s promises found in the Bible that bring us joy. To change the trend we must saturate ourselves with the promises of the gospel we find in God’s Word every day. Yes, every day. The battle for our joy in God is an every day battle, so we must drink deeply of God’s Word every day to refresh our souls.

I’m not worried about the end; remember it ends well for all God’s children. And if it ends well then shouldn’t today be a good day as well? Yes it should. Let’s take our cue from the Psalmist,

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24)

Grace & Peace,