Screws fall out all the time; the world's an imperfect place.

By accident, or rather by providence, I found myself watching a show I had never seen before Monday night, Law & Order. I caught a few minutes of it and decided to record it via the greatness of TiVo.

Later that night when I watched it, enthralled in the storyline I found myself near the end of the story within minutes it seemed of the revelation of whodunit and how it was dun.

Guess what happened? Yeah, the TiVo ran out. Apparently the station's slooge got off track so that the shows were not fitting in their allotted time slot.

I'm left with, "C'mon! What happened?!" So, if anyone watched the show Monday night, I'd love to know how it ended (i.e., who did the murder and why).

That experience brought to mind two things:

1. We often go through our lives wondering "how it will end," with it being an event, an experience, a traumatic time, our lives in general or even the world in general.
2. The world's an imperfect place.

1. I'm reminded of the lyrics of the song, "Because He Lives"

Because He lives I can face tomorrow;
Because He lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living just because He lives.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ gives a confident hope to those who have embraced the Savior by faith in Him and His substitutionary death.

Know what that means? It means that we don't necessarily need to know how "it" will end, for we know who is in charge. Since God reigns in heavens and does whatever He pleases (Ps 115:3), we know that He accomplishes His intentions. That doesn't mean the absence of difficulties, but it does mean that He uses them to our benefit (Rom 8:28).

Not knowing how "it" will end just means we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor 5:7) and that we may often not understand why things have happened to us, even in hindsight. But we trust Him nonetheless.

2. The world's an imperfect place ... for even TiVo can let you down. Actually, it's not TiVo's fault. I may sound like a TiVo apologist, which is not being argued, but it was the station that got cagged. But in a perfect world, shows get recorded. Cars don't break down. People don't let you down. In a pefect world it doesn't take two hours to drive 20 miles in the DFW metroplex, because in that perfect world people have mastery over their vehicles.

In Sunday school I am teaching the Yutes the Sermon on the Mount and Sunday morning we looked at Matthew 6:19-24. The gist is not to store up treasures on earth, which is foolish since rust & moths & thieves and assorted bad things happen to them. Disappointment is inevitable and those things do not last. Lasting joy and fulfillment is in investing in the lives of people, storing up treasures in heaven.

Of course, Jesus also makes it clear that what we value betrays what we love: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matt 6:21).

Hey, the world's an imperfect place. Stuff will disappoint you. People will disappoint you. Only God will not, though you may not always understand, He has your best interests at heart, if you are a Christian.

In fact, He's more concerned with your wellbeing than you are, as a parent is with a child. If you're a Christian, He wants you to be conformed to the image of Christ and He labors to that end.

The world's an imperect place, but the Perfect One is perfecting us in the midst of it. AND we do know how it will end, in our glorification and in His triumphant return (Rev 19).