Life can feel like a really, really, REALLY bad horror movie:

"Devastation" comes out of nowhere

You're in the wrong place at the wrong time

Your group turns down the incorrect road

The "help" turns out to be the killer

We just aren't prepared for the attack

"Rescue" seems to arrive a moment too late...and we keep making wrong decisions throughout it all trying to save ourselves.

Gosh, I hate horror movies!

Especially now, as we stand in intense and frequent setback, heartbreak, and unbelievable conditions, you may be on the edge of your seat waiting for just one thing to go right; but like the scariest and most insufferable of movies, there's cinematic predictability and you really do know how it'll end. Think about it, even with all the losses, close calls, out-of-nowhere plot twists, pain, and wanting to quit, the relief helicopter will touch down right at dawn, the main protagonist will come out victorious, the one who looked to have died early on and was unseen for 3/4 of the movie will miraculously return in the knick of time, and the destruction ultimately makes way for a new day.

When you read Isaiah 40 you see this play out. The chapter lays out the grandeur and magnificence of God even in the midst of judgment, punishment, and captivity. He is inside and outside the Children of Israel's world, seeing and directing all the scenes. While they relied on foreign alliances (connecting themselves with unsafe people, places, and things), and found themselves subject to Babylonian captivity (in unfathomable circumstances), God promised comfort and hope. He assured them even before the horror of exile - separation from the safety of home - took place that it wouldn't be more than they could bear, nor would He leave them in it. The Lord gave the ending before the beginning...even began. Why? He knew that if He did not tell them, they would focus on the horror and succumb to defeat. God declared "youth may faint and grow weary, and young men stumble and fall, but those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint." vv30-31

God speaks in present tense, through the Prophet Isaiah, sharing that the yet performed forced labor was already over, that the impending iniquity was pardoned, and that the Children had already received God's punishment for their sins (vv1-2). He wanted them to be reminded that an end to the pain was absolute. He already had the rest of their story penned, and it was glorious.

Curl check:

Now, Curlfriend, you don’t live in a Hollywood horror movie - this is real life, but sometimes our hearts beat just as feverishly as if we were that lone runner trying to escape the terror chasing them. It is in those moments of life that you have to behave like you know the One inside and outside of the scene - the One running next to you and watching from above - because He gives you the promise of His predicted intervention and repeated rescue.

He declares you will be strengthened, soar, run, and walk - you will survive. As a matter of fact, you will thrive. Why did He share this though? He knew that if He did not tell us that He was coming back, He is preparing a place for us, and He had rescued us from the penalty of sin, we would focus on the horror of now and succumb to defeat.

He exclaims

"Do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be afraid, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you; I will help you;

I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand.

Be sure that all who are enraged against you

will be ashamed and disgraced;

those who contend with you

will become as nothing and will perish.

You will look for those who contend with you,

but you will not find them.

Those who war against you

will become absolutely nothing.

For I, Yahweh your God,

hold your right hand

and say to you: Do not fear,

I will help you.

Isaiah 41:10-13

So, how do you hourly, daily, weekly, moment-by-moment, with every pain, remind yourself of God's spoiled ending?

List out the horrors and pains of your life, personal and worldwide, and make them submit in mind and heart to the Truth of God's victory.

Pray with me:

Father, You have given us the ending of our story, and we know You to be full of kept promises. You will not leave us here without rescue. Thank You for spoiling the ending so we won't faint or become weak in our circumstances, but we press on because of the strength You placed in us and Your love for us. Thank You for being our omniscient Father. Please remind our hearts when they sink into fear, depression, defeat, devastation, and frustration, that You are right next to us while also looking down from above with comfort and hope. Do not allow us to walk into temptation and give into this horror, making false allies out of enemies or trying to save ourselves with feel-good, short-lived pleasures. Let us always look up for relief; let us remember Jesus who miraculously defeated death and though unseen in the flesh is standing protectively over us.

Thank You for the rescue. Thank you for our victory. Thank You for an unbelievable ending that only You could write and include us in; we are grateful to be the main protagonist You have chosen to save. We will stand for as long as horror is present and declare Your might, just, and victorious name. Jesus, our relief, we praise Your name. Amen.

I want to remind you, as we live through a bad horror movie invaded by sin, that you already know the ending:

The loved ones we've lost will be reunited with us in the glory of God, where no horror slips in.

The Rescue Triune is not late, but we need to stop aligning ourselves with foreign and ill-fitted people, places, and things while we await relief.

Do not take your grief, anger, or depression out on the people trying to live through life as well, but redirect your consuming and unbelievable pain toward God; release it on Him - He speaks of its ending.

We don't have to plot our own escape, but must stop walking into danger. Curlfriend, stop choosing quick fixes to ease wounds.

Most importantly, we need to stop listening to the disguised killer who is leading us into the abandoned, dark house of faithlessness, and remember that only "the word of our God remains forever" (Isaiah 40:8) and He says you don't have to fear!

Smile, Shine, and Love, Curlfriends!

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I love you, Curls!