By David Faust
“The future ain’t what it used to be.” (Yogi Berra)
“It is always wise to look ahead, but difficult to look further than you can see.” (Winston Churchill)
On the day I was born, I didn’t realize where I was, who I was, or what was coming. Babies don’t know how their lives will unfold. Maybe that’s for the best.
When I was in first grade, I didn’t grasp what it would mean to spend the next 12 years in school or how many assignments lay ahead. When I was baptized at 9 years old, I couldn’t comprehend all the tests my faith would face in the years to come.
I graduated from high school 50 years ago (in 1972). Members of my graduating class couldn’t foresee all the twists and turns our lives would take. I didn’t realize that three years later I would be married. I could barely imagine what fatherhood and grandfatherhood would be like. When I was 18, the year 2022 seemed like a futuristic dream occupied by The Jetsons cartoon characters. What do you think the world will be like 50 years from now, in 2072?
HARD TIMES AHEAD
Only God sees time whole. No matter how much we plan, prepare, and prognosticate, we have a limited ability to foresee the future. Maybe that’s for the best.
On their wedding day, does a couple fully understand what it means to pledge their love “for better or worse, for richer and poorer, in sickness and in health”? When parents welcome a new baby into their home, do they realize what that child will cost—not only in dollars, but in sleepless nights, hard conversations, and trips to the emergency room? When a company fills a job opening, who knows whether the new employee will crash and burn within the first six months or stay and enjoy a productive 40-year career?
Each season of life contains hurts, joys, limitations, and regrets. If we knew how many difficulties the future holds, we might feel overwhelmed. Mercifully, God unrolls the timeline inch by inch, like a scroll. I’m glad everything doesn’t hit us all at once.
BETTER THINGS AHEAD
There’s much we do not know . . . but God knows. That’s why it makes sense to live by faith, trusting the Lord more than we trust our own plans and abilities. Despite severe suffering and persecution (1 Thessalonians 1:6, 2:14), the Thessalonian Christians persevered because of their “endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1:3). First Thessalonians shows that followers of Christ can expect to suffer, but it also highlights hope and mentions the Lord’s triumphant return near the end of each of the book’s five chapters.
If we knew all the troubles looming ahead, we would be disheartened. A wise adage says, “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.” The more we know the depth of God’s love, the easier it is to trust his plans. The more we know about the glories of Heaven, the better we can withstand the troubles of earth.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).
Personal Challenge: Discuss these questions in your small group or with a trusted friend: Am I a pessimist, an optimist, or a bit of both? What excites me about the future? What am I looking forward to—and what am I dreading?
Thank you for this article. What a timely reminder for Christians! Without the promise of heaven and better things to come after this life, hopelessness would fill our days and nights. Thank God for Jesus!