the good guys don't always win.

    "He has cancer, and it is spreading." It was dark out, and we had just gotten back into town, jumping from subject to subject as females typically do. I never knew this man well, but for some reason, the circumstances stirred something in me. I thought back to my childhood; back to when things were normal (or at least in a child's eyes), and back to when his body was healed and times weren't so harsh.

Did you know you would have cancer?

Obviously, we cannot humanly get a glimpse into our future, but I wonder what would happen if in our pasts, we knew what would happen to us. We are blissfully naive in the days before the storm. For all we know, the bodies we carry and the lives we live will thrive in sync and achieve the happily ever after we have pictured. Humans do not have the power to see what lies ahead. We cannot determine brokenness in our bodies, our final days, terrors of the world, or any outcome to the life each of us lives.

 It often reminds me - the good guys don't always win. 

Though there are also other reasons, perhaps this is why I hate watching most movies. Yes, there is tragedy; yes, some things apply to reality, but there is always a hero of some sort. Whether they're wearing spandex and a cape or jeans and a t-shirt, everything ends up resolved, the guy always gets the girl, the villain is defeated, the friendship is healed, and the good guy always wins.


 But that's just not how life works. We live in a broken world filled with evil and tragedy and terror and disappointment. The good guys don't always win, and if we're being honest with ourselves, it's often the villain. While we certainly like to imagine good endings in this life, the truth is this: A last breath is taken. Painful words devour the last ounce of self-esteem. The divorce papers are signed. The mirror becomes a liar. The dreaded call comes. Depression becomes death. The body is disease ridden. There is injustice. You spill yourself on the floor and can't stop crying. Society seems to surely be falling a part. In these times, I can't help but think, "Lord, please, not again." It's hard being human, and especially hard when the mind becomes weary from the fate of man.

I don't have an entire, elaborate paragraph to give some redeeming conclusion as I often do. My words are kept short this time. We live in a fallen world, and all I can say, in the words of a favorite artist of mine, is this:

"So if I stand let me stand on the promise
That you will pull me through
And if I can't, let me fall on the grace
That first brought me to You."

And if the good guys don't win here, because of grace and mercy, there is One who always will.


...Though our happily ever after might not be in this lifetime, we can anticipate one to come.