Imagined Futures

     One of the greatest detriments to faith is our tendency to imagine the future--over which we have no control.  And we usually seem to expect the absolute worst possible scenario.  On occasion we do imagine the absolute best scenario, at least from a human perspective.  But whether we imagine the worst, best, or anything in between, we just can't know.  And such expectations are the enemy of faith.  Such expectations produce fear, confusion, uncertainty, and, too often, murmurings against God.  Worry can lead to depression and doubt.  Disappointment can lead to resignation and despair.  Anger can lead to a hard-heartedness that questions the very goodness of God.
     The cure to such futile thinking is two fold.  First, live an obedient life in the present tense.  The one thing I can control is my choice to obey His teachings today.  In other words, the one thing I can control is my choice to love Him.  And no matter what tomorrow brings, I can again choose to demonstrate my love for Him through a life of obedience.  We love Him because He first loved us.  He sent His Son to pay the full penalty for every one of our sins.
      The second cure is to remember the goodness of God in the past tense.  The great failure of God's people in the Old Testament was they forgot.  And by that I don't mean that they couldn't have recounted for you all the stories of God's dealings with His people in the past.  They could have easily reiterated all those works of God on behalf of Israel.  Nevertheless, God says over and over again that they forgot His works.  What then did they "forget"?  They forgot that all those works revealed who God was:  a God of redemption, a God of lovingkindness, a God eager to forgive, a God who heard the cries of His people, a God whose plans for His people could not be thwarted by nature, by evil men, or even by the greatest nations on the earth.  And yet, a God who held men accountable for their choices from generation to generation.  When they forgot that everything God had done for them in the past was one hundred percent relevant to the choices they made today and the future they would face tomorrow, they were headed for spiritual disaster.
     When we remember who our God is, His love for us motivates our love for Him:  obedience.  When we remember who our God is, we know that whatever future we face, nothing on earth can keep God from doing what He desires to do for us as His children--children that He loves as deeply as He loves His Son.  When we fearfully despair of what our future might hold for us, we have lost faith in who He is and who He has proven Himself to be in our past.  When we expect--demand--a future He has not promised, we have lost faith--forgotten--who He is.  The only way to keep the future in proper biblical perspective is to live obediently today and to constantly remind ourselves of the character of the God who controls our future--and that we are the children that He loves.