John 6:39: This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day.

Yesterday we made the difficult decision to cancel church today. It's snowing in Dallas! This was a hard choice because the Bible tells us that we should not forsake gathering together (Hebrews 10:25). Looking out the window at the snow this morning, it’s obvious that we made the right call. That got me thinking, is the right decision always determined by the outcome, or is a decision right even if the outcome is not what was expected?

For example, (with apologies if you're not a football fan), in the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs were on defense against Tampa Bay with under two minutes left in the first half. Kansas City had stopped Tampa Bay on second down, and Chiefs coach Andy Reid called a timeout. He believed that his team would stop Tom Brady on third down and force a punt. The Chiefs were already down in the game and needed more possessions to catch up. Tampa Bay got the first down. Aided by the extra time resulting from the timeout, they scored a touchdown just before the half to go up 21-6. The game was essentially over.

Did Andy Reid make the right decision? It didn’t work out the way he had hoped, but that doesn’t necessarily make it the wrong decision. If Kansas City had stopped Tampa Bay and scored a touchdown of their own, Reid would have been called a genius. As it turned out, commentators and reporters strongly criticized his decision. If we woke up this morning to a sunny day with no snow on the ground, would yesterday’s decision to cancel church have been wrong? I don’t think so. The best we can do is to gather all available information and then choose the best course of action.

This all leads me to our decision to follow Jesus. Sometimes life is difficult. God allows things like sickness, stress, or broken relationships. In many ways they are made harder because the cost of following Jesus is high. Is following Jesus the wrong decision even if our lives seem harder as a result? Is that the right way to measure our decision? I would argue that it is not. Eventually, our decision will be vindicated by the outcome. Andy Reid trusted his defense to stop Tampa Bay on third down. It didn’t work out. Our decision to cancel church was based on weather reports that seem to be wrong as often as they are right.

Our decision to follow Jesus is not subject to any of those uncertainties. Romans 8:11 says: “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” That’s a promise made by God. We have believed it based on the best information available, the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Our decision to follow Jesus is the right decision and it will be vindicated by the outcome. Jesus said, “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day” (John 6:39).

That is our hope as Christians. Praise the Lord and enjoy your Sunday in your pajamas!