The team takes the field fired up and ready to go. Their scouts have developed an innovative strategy that exploits the weaknesses of the opposition. Their coach has mapped it out carefully and in full detail. The team has practiced the plays over and over again. Everyone is on the same page, and there is a sense of quiet confidence.
But as the game progresses, nothing seems to be working. Their offense sputters and their defense gives up too many yards. At half-time it looks like they are on their way to a solid defeat. But in the locker room, the coach doesn’t change a thing. He just looks at the players, winded and discouraged, and says, “Trust me.”
In the middle of the fourth quarter, the tide turns and the critics are silenced. And by the end of the game, what seemed impossible is now a victory.
This is Easter. So often we get to that special day and forget how bad everything looked before the resurrection. From Adam and Eve’s transgressions to the idolatry of kings, from the opposition of the religious leaders to the faithlessness of the disciples, nothing about God’s plan through Jesus looked promising. Like a fumble on the one-yard line run back for a touchdown, the cross seemed to be the last ... nail … in the coffin.
But the plan was good. It just needed to be trusted. And that Sunday morning almost 2,000 years ago, the sun came up and the referees’ hands signaled “Touchdown.”
When we celebrate Easter, we are celebrating one incredible truth: In God’s plan, “It’s not over until it’s over.” Go to church. Read the book. Say some prayers. Serve a neighbor. Love your enemies. And when you are winded and discouraged, listen to the words of the coach: “Trust me.”
Andy Hagen is pastor of Advent Life Ministries in Boca Raton.