This Is Not The End

[The Midweek Encounter is a ministry of Encounter Church in Kentwood, MI. These posts are a reflection on Sunday’s message, which can be heard here each week: http://myencounterchurch.org/#/hear-a-message]

We’ve all had situations that turned out differently than we thought they would. Maybe we got stuck, perhaps in a physical sense (snow bank, anyone?), or maybe a metaphorical sense, in a bad job or relationship. Maybe we made a wrong choice, and ended up where we knew we shouldn’t have gone. Or maybe circumstances beyond our control got us to a point where we never thought we’d be, desperate and looking for something, anything, to save us.

In Judges 4, Barak and the Israelite army went to battle against the Canaanite army, which was commanded by Sisera. The prophetess Deborah had warned Barak that the glory would not go to him, but that the Lord would deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. Yet as the Israelites defeated the Cannanites, Sisera ran away. When Barak realized what happened, he was probably confused. After all, God had promised they would defeat Sisera—or, more accurately, that a woman would. With Sisera gone, how was that possible?  


As I listened to KJ’s sermon on Sunday, the lyrics of Gungor’s song “This is Not the End” sprang to mind. It goes like this:

This is not the end
This is not the end of this
We will open our eyes wide, wider

This is not our last
This is not our last breath
We will open our mouths wide, wider

And you know you’ll be alright
Oh and you know you’ll be alright

This is not the end
This is not the end of us
We will shine like the stars bright, brighter


So though Barak was likely confused, frustrated, and angry that Sisera had gotten away, it was not the end of the story.

Enter Jael, a woman who wasn’t even an Israelite. She welcomed Sisera into her tent…and then proceeded to drive a tent peg through his head. It’s one of the more gruesome stories we read in the Bible, and definitely not one that gets featured in many children’s storybooks. Yet this shocking act, performed by a woman who wasn’t a member of God’s chosen people, was the way God chose to accomplish his plan. It’s an unexpected plot twist that Barak could not have seen coming. When he may have thought the story was over, God had something else in mind.

I don’t know what your story is right now. Maybe it feels like the end, and you’re starting to despair. Maybe you’re in a messy middle, and you don’t see how God could possibly pull you through. Maybe you don’t even know what story you’re supposed to be in, and you’re trying to find it. Whatever your story looks like right now, it is not the end. We have a God of unexpected plot twists, who knows just what we need and gives it to us at exactly the right time—even if it sometimes feels like he’s acting too early, too little, or too late. 

I hope the words of this song play on repeat throughout your week, month, and year for whenever you need the reminder most:  This is not the end.

[Brianna DeWitt attends Encounter Church and lives, works, and writes in Grand Rapids, MI. You can see more of her musings on her personal blog at http://awritespot.wordpress.com and on Twitter at @bwitt722.]