Future is one of the most exciting things we humans ever experience. We look forward to growing up, to getting our first car, job, and paycheck. We also look forward to getting married, then to having children, etc.
On the other hand, future is one of the most frightening things we can experience. The unknown, is causing us to worry. Some people even get depressed. Not knowing how thing will turn out. Not knowing if we will ever have our dreams come true, can make us scared of the future.
How do you view future?
Past is that comfortable and cozy place where we have been and are very familiar with. We know what life looks like in the past. Often times we “run” to the past, to the old way of life because we feel safe there. The truth is the past may have not been the best time in our lives, but once again, we will be tempted to run to the old order of things simply because we are familiar with it.
Future means in many ways that we step out of our comfort zone and that we take risks. When it comes to the past, we have our experiences to rely on, but when it comes to the future, we haven’t been there and therefore we do not have experiences to rely on.
Even when things go very well, you still don’t know what tomorrow will bring. If it were possible, some people would pay good money just to have the peace and the assurance that tomorrow everything will be all right.
1. Have you ever tried to escape future? (A pastor of a small congregation from California left the state because he has a vision of an earthquake. They went to Tennessee. What is funny is that when they arrived in Tennessee there was an earthquake.)
2. How should a Christian relate to the future?
Certainly, we must be wise and prepare as much as we can. The ant prepares for the future when it gathers provisions. It doesn’t expect some miraculous thing to happen that will fill it’s storehouse. Just like that, we must do our best and trust God with the rest.
3. What do you think, is it easier for Christians to deal with the future than it is for the non-Christians?
The people of Israel are a great example of someone who had a very hard life in Egypt. But God had promised them a bright future. The promise of a better life was so exciting that captured the hearts of the people. When the future did not develop as they have imagined or wanted, the people wanted to go back to the life they were familiar with, although it was hard and sad. Instead of having patience and faith in their God, the people got scared of the future and the unknown.
If Jeremiah 29:11 is true, and I believe it is, then God is not going to take us to a harmful place. The Lord has prepared good things for us. All we need to do is walk in them… and that will only happen when we are obedient.
“The gospel talks about the future. It reaches back and brings us Jeremiah’s vision of a new heart and a new law. It speaks of the new heaven and the new earth. It hears a voice saying, ‘Behold I make all things new.’ The Christian walks through time out of the past into the present with a dream of the future. We call it eternity and it means the presence of Jesus Christ who was before all tings [and who] walks with us day by day and leads us into tomorrow with great expectation.”[1]
Jesus is Lord of the past – He redeemed us; saved us from our sins.
Jesus is Lord of the present.
Jesus is Lord of the future. None of us knows what the future holds, but we know the One who holds the future.Read out loud Revelation 21: 1-6; 22: 1-6
[1] Gerald Kennedy in “20 Centuries of great preaching“, p. 158
