Hope!

"The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride" (Ecclesiastes 7:8).

You don't have to have read even this far in Ecclesiastes to know the Teacher is in a funk. Whatever the circumstances, he has trouble seeing any goodness or light in his current situation. He is mired in the midst of present circumstances, dire as they may be.

But, as we've also seen, every once in a while, a little bit of light breaks through and this verse is one such instance. A thought hits the Teacher that the present is not the end. Whatever is happening now is not the final word. It will not always be this way. If he will have a little bit of patience (and maybe on some days he needs more than a little bit), the end will be better than the beginning, and it will certainly be better than the current. God just might actually be working all things, even the dire things, out for good.

Hope is a needed quantity today. We're mired in the midst of seemingly endless political, theological and ecclesiological debates. Is there any chance we might be able to get beyond some or all of this? Is this present moment, with all of its struggle, all there is?

I think of the disciples of Jesus on Saturday afternoon. Jesus had died on Friday, and that night had to be one of the longest of their lives. Then Saturday was the Sabbath, and there was nothing they could do but wait. Have patience. He hadn't even been buried properly, but they were bound by Sabbath laws to stay put. They could not do work. Saturday afternoon came and the minutes must have ticked by so very slowly. Did they sleep at all on Saturday night? Patience. Patience. Patience. They had so very little, for their world had been rocked.

We are eager to hurry through the story because we know the end. We know that on Sunday morning, they are going to find the tomb empty and the Lord risen. But they don't know that. All they know is their present, and it's dark and dire and hopeless.

We want to say to them: hold on! Have patience! Take the long view! The future, the end of the matter, is so much better than the beginning! Jesus will be raised! Hope will be restored! God will work all things for good! The resurrection proves that the worst thing is never the last thing.

Are you stuck on Saturday afternoon? Hear the words of the Teacher: the end of the matter will be better than its beginning. The worst thing is never the last thing. As long as Jesus lives, there is always hope. Those who know me well know that I am no Pollyanna "false hope" sort of person. But I'm here to tell you that the Teacher is right: there is always hope. Patience is better than pride, and in the end, God will make it all right.

The worst thing, truly, is never the last thing. Thanks be to God!