I've just been doing some work on 'the future'...a topic that is always scary, exciting and impossible to plan for! And yet, in the long hours of the night, there it is, wanting to be chewed over, thought through, to have every single hypothetical accounted for. It always seems to take hours and hours to do it justice, and even then, it's never quite figured out.
Something has to be said for Scriptures such as:
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. (James 4:13-17)
Why, you don't even know...I mean, anything could happen!!
As usual, Scripture addresses the heart of the matter. Are you investing your time in the future in order that you can boast in your plans? Do you have arrogance and pride in your heart? Does planning for the future limit your chances to respond to the opportunities you are presented today/tomorrow/the next day? All very good questions!
So, Jesus says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself!" Come on, Joy, don't you have enough today to worry about? Don't you have enough responsibility today to invest yourself in? Doesn't Jesus say, instead of worrying, "seek first His Kingdom"? And I know - there are some pretty solid reasons that I keep reminding myself, that there's no need to stress:
1. My God is in control (Daniel 4:35)
2. My God is for me! (for my good, He loves me, He knows best) (Romans 8:31-32)
3. My God has given me every reason to trust His faithfulness (Hebrews 10:23)
4. No matter what happens, I am being conformed to Christ (every worst case scenario is still a best case scenario!) (Romans 8:29)
All very good reasons to leave the future be, and get on with living it! Of course, we shouldn't swing from planning to neglect, but let's not live for tomorrow, let's live for the Kingdom!
p.s. I'm not sorry that this post has no information on my current 'plans for the future' ... I don't really have any!
Something has to be said for Scriptures such as:
Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn't do it, it is sin for them. (James 4:13-17)
Why, you don't even know...I mean, anything could happen!!
As usual, Scripture addresses the heart of the matter. Are you investing your time in the future in order that you can boast in your plans? Do you have arrogance and pride in your heart? Does planning for the future limit your chances to respond to the opportunities you are presented today/tomorrow/the next day? All very good questions!
So, Jesus says, "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself!" Come on, Joy, don't you have enough today to worry about? Don't you have enough responsibility today to invest yourself in? Doesn't Jesus say, instead of worrying, "seek first His Kingdom"? And I know - there are some pretty solid reasons that I keep reminding myself, that there's no need to stress:
1. My God is in control (Daniel 4:35)
2. My God is for me! (for my good, He loves me, He knows best) (Romans 8:31-32)
3. My God has given me every reason to trust His faithfulness (Hebrews 10:23)
4. No matter what happens, I am being conformed to Christ (every worst case scenario is still a best case scenario!) (Romans 8:29)
All very good reasons to leave the future be, and get on with living it! Of course, we shouldn't swing from planning to neglect, but let's not live for tomorrow, let's live for the Kingdom!
p.s. I'm not sorry that this post has no information on my current 'plans for the future' ... I don't really have any!
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