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I'm not a huge fan of "Lost," but can appreciate the way the story's complexities have attracted a sizeable and devout following. This is the final season, they say. So how on earth will they pull together all the puzzle pieces? At a friend's birthday party last week, a "Lost" fan said the writers started with the end clearly in mind, and then wrote the entire series with that end in mind. No matter how far afield they seem to go, he said, they'll be able to reconcile everything in the end--because they started already knowing the end.

Can't help but make the connection in my mind to what God has revealed in the Bible: knowing how human history will end, he has been and is weaving together a googol (sic) of seemingly random and disconnected events, choices, and acts so that they all come together at the end to bring about the end he has always had in mind.

Biblical prophecy gives perhaps the clearest example of how this plays out. So many times already in biblical prophecy, God has predicted something long before it happened. To the surprise of many, what God predicts comes about precisely as he had said--human attempts to block him or speed his timeline along not withstanding. The most dramatic examples surround the coming of his Son, Jesus Christ.

Chapter 53 of the Old Testament prophetic book of Isaiah was written some 700 years before Jesus was born. Check it out here: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah%2053&version=NIV.

God's prediction pre-dates crucifixion. It involves events and choices which were completely out of the control of Jesus and anyone who might have wanted to conspire to force the seeming fulfillment of prophecy.

Begin with the end in mind. Shrewd businessmen, investors and students do it. We'll soon see how the writers of "Lost" do it. And God apparently does it. Without removing freedom of choice and the consequences of our choices, he knows the end, knew the end before time began, and is right now working all things together for the good of those who love him. Amazing.