Dear Church Family,
Good day and welcome to today’s update. I hope this finds you all well and rejoicing in the Lord!
Men and women are notoriously poor at predicting the future. I often say, and perhaps you have heard me say so, that we never know what a day may bring.
Outside of the future revealed by divine revelation and communicated to us by God’s prophets in the Word, we have very little insight, or should I say foresight, into what lies ahead.
I can remember as a boy seeking out copies of Popular Science and other magazines like it, to see what was being predicted for the future. According to those publications and their estimate of the future, we here in the 21st century should be flying around in our own personal helicopters and hover crafts and visiting the moon on our vacations. This is obviously not the reality, and ironically, rather than flying about in our own machines we are sequestered in our homes by a virus.
On the other hand, they missed other things that have proved quite significant. For example, that powerful computer you hold in your hand. You call it your phone, but making phone calls is only one of a thousand things that computer can do, and practically, it is funny that we still refer to it as a “phone.”
God is the only One with perfect knowledge of the future and He rarely reveals it in any detail, especially regarding any single individual. On occasion He has done so for His glory, but generally speaking, it is most uncommon.
Our uncertainty is because of something called the “vicissitudes (changing, or up and down circumstances) of life.” How many of us can say today, “If someone had told me 20 years ago that this is where I would be and what I would be doing, I would not have believed it!”? But here you are!
I am pretty sure that most of us did not suspect that we would be in our present predicament.
So, what prescription does God give us for handling this uncertain future? Well, He does give us some broad outlines about the future. We know, for example, that there is coming a great judgment, and that all who are in Christ will, because of their faith in Him, be found innocent and enter into the joy of the Lord.
We also know that those without a redeeming faith in Jesus Christ will enter into a state of eternal misery and separation from God because of their sins against Him as the Creator, Sustainer and Savior of Mankind.
That’s the big picture and the direction we are given in light of it is clear. Jesus said,
John 11:25-26 "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"
So, to prepare us for the future, the One who knows the future says, “Believe in Me!”
But what about the day to day challenges? What about the changing circumstances that impact our lives every day—whether it is COVID-19, or a flat tire that makes us late, or any of the vicissitudes of life? The Word of God gives us council for it all as it unfolds each day.
Proverbs 3:5-8 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
You see, Beloved, those words are not just meant to be memorized, but believed and relied on. We are all staring into the blank pages of tomorrow. How should we view them? Well, the first step into tomorrow is: Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is Your name in all the earth. Help us LORD, no matter what this day or tomorrow holds for us, to put our trust in You and not ourselves or other men and women.
We thank You this day for the redeeming grace that has secured our eternal future. We pray that until we enter into our eternal peace you will direct our paths and keep us from evil.
Father, look on our list of requests today as our prayers for these matters, and LORD, work as only you can in each situation.
These things we pray in the precious name of Jesus our Savior, Amen.
