In the
devotional below I talked about the “time zones” in your mind and how your
thoughts can
drift to the past. Your mind can also travel
in the other direction to the future. Worry
sends your mind ahead so you’ll agonize about the horrible things that might happen. Maybe you’re thinking, “The
future scares me. What if there’s a world
war? What if the economy collapses?”
Worry is the belief
that the worst will happen to you. Hope
is the belief that the best will happen to you. Which one do you think God wants you to do—worry
or hope? Jesus specifically told His followers to not worry. He said, “Do not keep worrying.” (Luke 12:29)
Studies show that 92% of things we worry
about will never happen. I know what
you’re thinking. “What about the other
8%?” The other 8% will either not be as bad as you think, or God will
give you the grace to get through them.
That takes care of everything you’re
worried about.
If
you are worried, it’s because you’re not trusting God to be in control of your
circumstances and take care of you. You cannot worry about
the future and trust God at the same time. Here are 3 things reasons why you can look
forward to the future.
1. God exists in the
future. God
is “I AM” the eternally existent one (Ex. 3:14), which means He is not bound by
time and He exists in the future. Tomorrow
when you get there, God will be waiting there to welcome you. It doesn’t matter what the world is like
tomorrow. If God is there, you don’t
need to worry.
2. God has good plans for your future. The prophet Jeremiah said, “‘For I know the
plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord,
‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope’”
(Jeremiah 29:11). He has plans for His
followers, too. We don’t know what they
may be, but we do know they are good plans to give us hope. Hope for tomorrow displaces worry.
3. God promises to take care of those who put Him first. Jesus made this
promise: “But seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you” (Matthew 6:33). If you
will seek Him as your highest priority, He promises to provide all your needs.
My book The Sure Cure for Worry will
be published in August 2013, which will explain why people worry and will give solid
evidence that God is in control and can be trusted completely.
Coming in April 2013: Slaying Your Giants by Kent Crockett (Hendrickson Publishers)
