Not knowing how the season will end

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Good morning. Reaching the middle of the week can feel like a major achievement. A bit like reaching the middle of a project, or the middle of a football season - which for most has just finished. I am club chaplain for Northampton Town, a League One team who have just successfully completed a second successive season in that division. In the middle of the season it wasn’t clear what the eventual outcome of it would be. Would the team stay in the league, finish in mid-table or be fighting against relegation? That uncertainty of what the outcome of a season will be is difficult to live with for players, staff, supporters, board members and sponsors, for different reasons. If it was possible in mid-season to know what the end would be, I wonder if people would find that more relaxing, or not. There’s something of the jeopardy and uncertainty of not knowing how things will end, which can energise and galvanise people. Happily this season the team pulled together to reach a good outcome. Even as they were working hard for that shared goal, I was reminded of the truth that nothing surprises God. God knows the end from the beginning, in fact is the alpha and the omega, the first and the last. Even as I, sometimes, struggle on in my uncertainties, I am safely held by God, who promises to see me safely to and over the finish line. Father, thank you that nothing surprises you. Thank you for holding all, guiding all, nurturing all. I look to you and rely on you today. Increase hope, faith and trust today, I pray. Amen.