When the End Means the Beginning

“It is finished.”
John 19:30

I stayed up late last night watching the Facebook status, waiting for news about Baby Annabelle. Annabelle’s mom is one of my Facebook friends, and I, along with many others, have prayed for Annabelle since she was born with a rare heart condition. A heart transplant was Annabelle’s only hope for survival, and late last night, she got her new heart. As I write this the baby is doing well, and I pray that soon she can go home with her family. Annabelle has spent all of her short life, nine months, in the hospital.

As I thanked God for Annabelle’s new heart, I remembered the donor family. Someone lost their child yesterday. Annabelle’s family’s joy came at the price of another family’s sorrow. Life is like that sometimes—a horrific event in some way brings blessings. We may not always see them. God’s blessings sometimes remain hidden to us, but He knows. To everything there is a purpose.

I’m thinking of that Friday, two thousand years ago, when Pontius Pilate turned Jesus over to the crowd to be crucified. Jesus, the beloved Rabbi, the Teacher. What a horrendous sight: Jesus of Nazareth, beaten and bleeding, nailed to a cross, dying. Such a sorrowful day for those who loved Him.

The greatest blessing of all lay in God’s hands that Friday, hidden, ready to reveal in His time and according to His purpose. Those who stood weeping at the foot of the cross could never imagine that Jesus’ death was necessary for our eternal life or that His suffering would bring infinite joy.

Last night, when Annabelle’s surgery was over, her mom posted “It’s finished” on her Facebook status. Just before Jesus died, He, too, said, “It is finished.”

Sometimes, the end is just the beginning.

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ Isaiah 46:10 (NIV)