Our son attended the University of Oklahoma and is a huge OU fan (Boomer Sooner!). But since he works an overnight shift and sleeps during the day, he doesn’t always get to watch OU football live. Instead, he records the game to watch the next morning. 

I could hear him in his room one time moaning, groaning and grumping through the start of a game against West Virginia, as the Mountaineers took an early 7-0 lead. I happened to know that the Sooners had ended up winning the game 59-20, but he didn’t know that, as he had just started the replay. Of course he would find that out eventually, but in the meantime, it was worry, worry, grief and grumbling. I thought about telling him, but I didn’t want to spoil his fun.

Ever feel that way with how things are going in your life? You’ve got financial stress, inflation rising; COVID, RSV and the flu rearing their ugly old heads; anger, hatred and division all around; crime, wars and any number of other conflicts around the world ready to boil over; elected officials who behave like middle schoolers; problems at home and work; and on and on it goes. 

Who knows where it will all end?

What’s that old Woody Allen quote? “More than any other time in history, mankind faces a crossroads. One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other, to total extinction. Let us pray we have the wisdom to choose correctly.” 

You know what? The Bible has already given us the end of the story, and God wins. 

Jesus told his followers something once that confirms that: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

That wasn’t spoken in some comfortable church setting with cushioned seats, nice music and lots of good friends around. Instead, it was the night before Jesus would be hung on a cross. It was the night before one of his disciples would betray him and most of the rest of his men would abandon him. The setting couldn’t have been more depressing, more terrifying. It was like the score was 500 to 0. 

But Jesus knew the end of the story. Three days later he would walk out of the tomb and bring to reality the promise that he had overcome the world.

So when it all looks hopeless, how do you make it through? Humor writer Erma Bombeck gave one option: “When my kids were wild and unruly, I would use a nice, safe playpen. And when they were finished, I would climb back out.”

Or you could put your trust in the one who said, “Take heart! I have overcome the world.”