God Loves Drama Print
Written by Chris Tiegreen   
Tuesday, 29 June 2010 04:36

I was thinking about last week's exciting win for the U.S. in the World Cup—how the soccer team faced elimination one moment, then won their four-team group with a thrilling goal with less than two minutes left in the game. I made for great drama. But it only played out that way because in the previous game, a U.S. goal was disallowed by a referee's bad call, and earlier in the dramatic game, another goal had been disallowed by bad officiating. If either of those goals had been allowed—or if the U.S. team had taken advantage of many golden opportunities to score earlier—the story would have worked out fine, but not in a way that captured hearts and minds. There would have been much less drama. No last-minute heroics, no wild celebration at the sudden reversal of fate. Just solid, mundane victories. Mission accomplished, but little glory.

I think there's a parallel to life in that plot line. We often suffer injustices—like disallowed goals by bad refereeing—or missed opportunities through our own mistakes. Those very mishaps often set the stage for a dramatic comeback, a redemption story of rags to riches that captures hearts and minds. Sure, if we had played everything perfectly along the way, we would "win." But there would be no thrill, no drama. Mission accomplished, but little glory—for us or for God.

The truth is that most of our lives follow a dramatic plot line. At times, things look hopeless. But God has a way of finishing well—of snatching us out of disgrace or disappointment at the last minute. Sometimes it's at the very last minute, long after we think it was "too late." But with God, there is no "too late." With Him, stories can always end well.

I'm learning to view life's injustices and missed opportunities as the very means to a dramatic finish. Such disappointments set the stage for God's redemptive work, His last-minute heroics. Though the drama can be intense—and really stress us out—He already knows the end. And for those who trust Him, the story always ends in glory.