Friday, January 2, 2009

A Peek at a Glorious Future

Happy New Year! At this time every year people make guesses about what will happen in the next 12 months. On the radio I heard, for example, that someone will come out with a video game that is played by simply thinking - a thought controlled game. Others speculate about the economy, politics, or whether we will have peace or war.

Much of the future, however, is truly beyond our knowledge. When we make plans for the future, we are taking risks, aren't we? We have retirement savings in the stock market. Our youth prepare for future employment (that may or may not be there for them) or wonder if they will find a marriage partner for life. And, unless it's available through our employers, we decide whether or not to spend thousands of dollars on health insurance.

We don't know what's coming, so we make our best guess. Or we stay with the status quo, whatever it is, because we just can't decide.

Because God loves us, and because he knows we need a certain amount of security in our lives, he chooses to reveal the final outcome. God doesn't tell us what is going to happen tomorrow or next week, but we do know what will happen in the end. In the end, things will be good! We will read promises about this on Sunday in Jeremiah 31:7-14 and Ephesians 1:3-14. In the end, for example, we will be in God's presence, "holy and blameless" in his love.

Knowing that things will turn out well in the end gives me courage to move on through the murky darkness of this life, loving others as I have first been loved, and not worrying to much about the next day. It's like how I sometimes peek at the end of a book as I'm reading. For some people, that would spoil the book. But, for me personally, it lets me enjoy the story more. There's enough stress in day-to-day life without adding more in my relaxation time!

Knowing God's love will greet me at the end, I can launch into the new year with confidence, energetically preparing to share Good News with the world.

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