Journey into Lightl

A couple of months ago, my future on this earth nearly came to an end. I was suddenly facing two aneurisms in my aorta artery that were starting to dissect. Only heroic efforts by God and surgeons saved me.

Now, I am faced with an uncertain future of several months of recovery. The prognosis is good, yet pain and weakness tend to drag me down in my confidence that I will fully recover.

So, why is it so hard for me to face my future with confidence? Why is it so hard for many of you to face your futures with confidence?

One reason is that we cannot control our futures. “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away”’ (James 4:13-14).

Many of us do not have confidence in a future that we cannot control. Only by pretending that we have control will we have peace of mind. Only if we think we can figure out what is going to happen to us, do we face our future with confidence (Proverbs 3:5).

Others of us have bad thinking habits that tend to project worst-case scenarios into the future. Since we do not know that the worst will not happen, we tend to think it will.

Another important reason that many of us Christians do not have confidence in our futures is that we do not rely on the great love that God has for us. We look out into the future as if we are alone and not being faithfully watched over by God. “I will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever” (Psalm 121:8).

A fourth reason that we have difficulty facing the future with confidence is that the world has a lot of bad things in it. Jesus warns us that, “in the world you will have tribulation” (John 16:33). How can we be sure we have what it takes to face this future tribulation?

So, how do we face the future with confidence?

We need to remember that Jesus is our partner (Philippians 4:13). He promises he will always be with us bending our futures for our good and his purposes. “God causes all things to work together for good” (Romans 8:28).

And we need to rely on our partner, who is God Almighty. “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not approach you” (Psalm 91:7).

But what about the possibility of open-heart surgery in our future? Why shouldn’t that undermine our confidence in the future?

If comfort is our goal we will probably not be able to face our futures with confidence. But if we see our futures as allowing God to finish his work in us, we can face them with confidence. “He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6).

And even if we know our futures will have some tribulations in it, we will not be given more than we can handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).

May our faith in God and our futures grow to become more like David’s who said “Surely goodness and lovingkindnesses will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6).