Don’t Fear the Future
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Wars, rumors of war, pestilence, pandemic, food shortages, more and more the headlines of today have to make everyone nervous. So, we worry, in fact I had a friend ask me if it was wrong to try and predict the future using astrology. When we try things like astrology, it’s because of uncertainty, a fear of the unknown. I’m not a believer in Astrology or fortune tellers or anyone who claims to be able to predict the future. I do my best not to worry about it because we are told in Matthew 6:34, “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s troubles are enough for today.” We worry about stuff that might never happen; all of our worries won’t change what’s going to happen. We fear the unknown and fear can paralyze us from doing what we need to be doing.
I think that often we fear the future because we are unsure of our life’s meaning, our purpose. We all know we’re going to pass away at some point, so life can seem meaningless, in Ecclesiastes 3:19, it is written, “For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.” We often see the word vanity in the book of Ecclesiastes and sometimes folks wonder about it, another word for it is futility. We often feel like things have no meaning, our efforts are for nothing, after all in that verse, it is written that men and animals all face the same fate it doesn’t matter who we are. Further on in Ecclesiastes, in 4:4 we find, “I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind.” I don’t know about you, but there have been many times I have wondered what the heck I was doing things for. Now I don’t think I do this because I want to be the best preacher in the neighborhood, shoot there are times as a preacher, when I wonder if I’m just doing it to hear myself talk.
I guess in a way, it is a rivalry, with myself. So, I have to ask myself, why am I doing things, well frankly, I think it’s because God has given me the ability to spread His word, and put me on this planet as a human and not a monkey. In Psalm 8:3-8, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon, and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.” So, God has put us into numero uno position, so it is up to us to make the most of it and do things for his glory.
In doing so, we become, or we try to become more and more like Jesus., 2 Peter 1:3, “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence” So many gifts have been given to us, and yet we still wonder about what’s going on? We doubt and question and fear the future. We fear death, and yet if we are Christians, if we are followers of the resurrected Christ, we have nothing to fear, John 11:25-26, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” and yet we do fear. So how do we overcome our fear of the future. We can start by getting some wisdom.
Proverbs 4:7, “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding” Now wisdom is not reading your horoscope and finding your lucky numbers, or who your sun sign says you should marry. Wisdom is being able to discern right from wrong, how to understand what you’re doing and what you need to be doing. Being able to admit when you’ve made a mistake or done someone wrong. Wisdom is being able to see past the glitz and the glamour of the secular world and looking for the deeper meaning. Wisdom is understanding that God has a plan for you and while you and I may not be able to understand it, the fact of the matter is it’s there and we need to trust. Remember in Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”
This is where it can get confusing. Some people want to think that this means they don’t have to do anything, because everything is already planned out for them. While God does have a plan for each of us, it’s important that each of us use the gifts that He has given us to do the best we can. Ok, but how does being a Christian help me have hope for the future and how can it help me in the here and now?
Over the past years when I was working in radio and then when I ran a news website, I used to cover rodeo. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing many competitors, both men and women, and who were Christian. I noticed they all had a couple of things in common. They had a firm belief in God. They also understood that the more they practiced, the better their chances were for winning that gold buckle. In professional rodeo, you have no guarantees, nobody pays you to compete, you have to win to earn a living. They all trusted in God to show them the right way to do things, and they were never afraid to let others know they believed. They also did not fear the future, and they were competing in a sport where folks have lost their lives or been seriously hurt.
Think positively about the future. In Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” Let’s break this one down a bit. “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go” What does that mean? Heck, I imagine that most of us have been to school where we’ve been taught some things, but how does God teach us”. I believe He teaches us through prayer, when we sit down and pray and ask God for guidance, I believe He will reveal the answers to us. Oh, I don’t mean he’ll turn into a physical being, and appear, but I believe that if we clear out our mind and open it, we can and do receive instructions. I don’t know what it is, but I have found that when I do that my path becomes clearer. Also, I often ask for the father to send down the holy spirit, which I view as an integral part of God, and I guess that’s the wisdom and knowledge I receive. There have been times when I was at a crossroad in my life, and sometimes I choose the wrong path, those were the times when I jumped ahead and didn’t ask God for guidance. It’s like going to a rodeo and jumping on the back of a bronc without anyone teaching you how to do it. You might get up on it, but I can guarantee that you’re not going to stay.
Our fear of the future just stems from the unknown. We cannot predict the future, nobody can, but we can have faith in God that if we do what we need to then it will all be OK. Oh, we might not get everything we want, but we can find a way to get what we need. There is no need to fear the future. When you’re fearing tomorrow, try this prayer.
Dear Lord Jesus, today I am unsure of what’s going on around me. I worry that the world is spinning out of control. Please help me to clearly find my role and my path through this forest of life. Thank you. Amen
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