Hello again,
On 30 July 1966 I sat around an old black and white TV with my parents and watched England win the football World Cup, and on Sunday evening I sat in front of the TV again in my replica 1966 England shirt to watch the Euros final. Sadly, football did not come home for England football fans, and the 58 years of hurt continue.
In the words of the 1998 version of the football anthem, Three Lions, ‘We still believe’. England fans still dream of the men’s team winning a major trophy and bringing football home – but is it pie in the sky?
Many people in this world have suffered decades of hurt that is far more painful than not winning a football match. Ill health, the loss of a loved one, living in a country with barely subsistence levels of food, or a country ravaged by war – the hurt goes on.
The Apostle Paul even tells us that ‘…the whole creation has been groaning [hurting] as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.’ (Romans 8:22 NIVUK). But this hurting will not go on forever. In the same chapter, Paul tells us that he considers ‘…that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.’ (v. 18). And we can have hope that ‘the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.’ (v. 21).
This is not pie in the sky wishful dreaming, it’s a sure and certain hope that the hurt will end. I’m still believing.
In Christian love,
Barry.
About the Writer:
Barry Robinson is a Regional Pastor for Southern England, the Midlands and Wales