A 30-DAY GUIDE FOR NEW BELIEVERS
by JOHN D. BECKETT
DAY 23 TRUSTING GOD FOR THE FUTURE
Is my future safe in His hands?
As we grow in our relationship with the Lord we find we can trust Him for more and more. When Wendy and I were beginning our family, we spent long hours talking about what kind of world our children would encounter. (Probably every generation has had such concerns.) While we still wonder where this troubled world is headed, our confidence has grown that the future is safely in God's hands. More than just trusting Him in whatever happens, we trust Him for whatever happens.
Undergirding this trust is an understanding that history is not just mankind's story. It's the Lord's story (His-story!). It has a beginning and an end. It is not circular, as some religions contend, but linear. Three major markers define the trajectory of man's journey.
Creation. The Bible's opening phrase is, "In the beginning" (Genesis 1:1) and Jesus was present: "He was in the beginning with God" (John 1:2). From that point, history unfolds systematically and progressively.
Redemption and Restoration. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus became the fulfillment of God's plan for a restored relationship with His creation -- and the fulcrum upon which all world events turn.
Consummation. History will culminate in what Paul calls the "consummation," or "summing up," when God will "gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth -- in Him" (Ephesians 1:10).
We are now in that period leading up to the consummation. The times ahead will likely witness increasing challenge and difficulty throughout the earth, but we can rest securely in the confidence that God is firmly and fully in control.
So where do we fit in? From our limited perspective, day-to-day events may seem random and detached from each other, like individual threads on the underside of a tapestry. But from God's perspective, nothing is random. He views the tapestry from above and sees an exquisite pattern. Each person and each event has a purpose, whether a birth, a death, an election result, a military defeat or a technological breakthrough (like the computer you are using right now).
How future events will transpire, we simply don't know. But God knows -- and again, we can trust Him implicitly. Not that we should have a passive, "come-what-may" attitude -- but rather the opposite. As Jesus directed, we are to be watchful, very attentive, especially as the end draws near (see Matthew 24:42).
One of my favorite scriptures defines the rules of engagement and the focus of our affections as we walk through the present toward the future:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1,2).
Just imagine -- pioneers of the faith watching you as you run the race! How timely is the advice that you shed all that weighs you down and keep your eyes firmly fixed on Jesus, the One who has already won the victory.
Memorize these verses from Hebrews and let them be your daily inspiration. Come what may, be certain that the Lord, who was there at the beginning, who has been present throughout, will write the last glorious chapter.
Key Scripture I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 21:6).
Key Thought The essence of history is His Story. Because of His love and care for me, I’m part of that story.
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Copyright © 2006 by John D. Beckett
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