What Does the Future Hold?

Where do you spend most of your time? I'm not talking about a location, such as a work place, home, the mall or such, but rather the mental process of thinking. Do you spend your time dwelling on the past? Last night after Dallas beat Buffalo on a last second field goal in the Monday Night Football game, Tony Romo, the Dallas quarterback, was asked if he was going to spend some time enjoying this victory. His immediate response was something to the effect that there wasn't time to dwell on this victory. He needed to look forward to getting ready for the next game. I kind of suspect that a lot of us are that way! I know that in my own life I rarely dwell on past events unless I made a mistake and then it is hard to get the event out of my mind as I keep kicking myself for making such a dumb blunder.

How about the present? Do you find that you are living in the present? I suppose this speaks to awareness and whether or not we're cognisant of the here and now, the ebb and flow of life around us. How about it, are you living for today, making the most of the opportunity you've been given? Are you living with the certainty of God's presence in your life, His leading and directing and the moment by moment activities of the day? I rather suspect that when it comes to life, God wants us living in the present. The past is an ending, the future a possibility, but today is the gift of promise. Today is what we have and God wants to make the most of it in our lives.

If you're like me, though, you find yourself dwelling on the future. I suppose in many ways it is the nature of life that we think about and plan for what lies ahead. In some respects, we should be looking to the future, but when we do so are we looking with the eyes of faith?

I'm learning that I spend a lot of my time thinking about the future, but that future is often filled with fear and worry. Why? I'm ashamed to admit it is because I am desperate to gain control over something that I really don't have any control over. I make plans and contingencies to try and dictate what will happen and the course my life will take. In short, I find myself often usurping God's providence and role in my life by attempting to assume His mantle of responsibility and authority. I'm also ashamed to admit that when I think of the future, I do not think of it with anticipation and expectation. Instead, I approach it with the apprehension of uncertainty.

I've been pondering this for awhile now and here's the conclusion that I have drawn. The fear and worry over the future that I experience result from a lack of trust in God. The future I often depict is viewed through human eyes rather than the lens of faith. I have to ask myself, Do I believe that God is good? I know we sing songs that extol this truth. I express with my lips that He is good and I praise God for His goodness. But I also know I try and play God when I imagine a future that He is not in control of. I display a lack of faith when I worry and fret. I exhibit my disbelief when I give into fear.

I wish I could say that I have this all figured out, but I don't. In some ways I thinking living with a bit of ambiguity is probably a good thing. Further, the uncertainty of the future requires that I cling to the one hope I have and forces me to examine this faith that I extol. Yes, God is good and yes, God loves me. If this is truth then the future, no matter what it may hold, is a future of promise in the life God has given me.

I'm learning to live with the past behind me, the present in my grasp and the future orchestrated by God who sees the end from the beginning.