We live in a world that doesn’t seem to have much hope.
Sunday night a gunman killed 59 people in Las Vegas, the worst mass shooting in American history. North Korea continues to try to develop long-range missiles. Not to mention recent hurricanes that battered the Caribbean, Florida, and Texas. Where is hope in this dark world? How can anyone have hope for the future?
And who doesn’t face personal uncertainty? You lose a job or retire. What are you going to do now? It seems like taxes keep getting higher. Your home needs maintenance – where’s the money going to come from? And if you have children or grandchildren, you always carry each of them in your heart. So how do we not struggle with fear of the future? How can we find hope?
And I don’t know about you, but I’m often tempted to think what if I miss God’s will for my life? What if I didn’t pray enough about that life-changing decision I made months ago? What if I’m supposed to be doing something else right now? We have an enemy who wants to rob us of hope, but God assures us in his wordwe have a bright future.
But God gives us incredible promises to give us hope for the future, both in this life and especially the next. Here are 10…
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. JER 29.11
God has specific wonderful plans for each of his children. Plans for our good. Plans for our joy. Plans to give us a future and a hope. And no one can thwart those plans. I don’t know how or when God will work out his plans for me, but I know he will. And his timing will be perfect.
I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD
in the land of the living!
Wait for the LORD;
be strong, and let your heart take courage;
wait for the LORD! PS 27.13-14
God promises believers will see his goodness in this life. We certainly will see his goodness in heaven but we’ll see it here as well. We’ll see God answer prayers and meet needs. We will experience his joy. We’ll see him work in our kids. Don’t give up! Keep hoping and waiting for the Lord’s perfect timing. Be strong and take courage in your heart. Your hope won’t be disappointed. You do have hope for the future!
Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you and worked for those who take refuge in you, in the sight of the children of mankind! PS 31.19
God has not just a few sparse blessings, but ABUNDANT goodness STORED UP for us, and he waits for his perfect timing to shower it on us. We can’t even imagine all the blessings God has in store for us.
The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. PS 138.8
Have you ever wondered what your purpose in life is? Sometimes I wonder if I might be missing God’s will for my life. But God promises that HE has a purpose for my life and HE will fulfill it! This gives me great hope!
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. PHP 1.6
God finishes what he starts. When God saved you he began an incredibly good work in you – to transform you into the likeness of Christ. Everything we go through, good and bad, is controlled by his sovereign hand to conform us to Christ. He won’t fail. There won’t be any “unfinished” believer in heaven. God works in our lives every day and at “the day of Jesus Christ” we will be like him.
Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established. PR 16.3
Maybe you don’t know where you’re going in life. But if you seek the Lord, you have a sure hope he will establish your plans as he has promised. He has also promised:
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. PS 32.8
God himself, the One who controls all things, the God of infinite wisdom, will PERSONALLY counsel you with his eye upon you. Wow, who could hope for more than that!
Ask God to instruct you and teach you and show you how to live a life that pleases him, and he will.
But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. PR 4.18
Maybe your path is dark right now, but if you keep seeking the Lord, he will make your path brighter and brighter. When Jesus first saved me, I was single and had no idea what I wanted to do in life.
I had no idea God would give me the most wonderful wife or call me to be a pastor. Couldn’t have imagined the children or grandchildren he would bless us with. But as I sought to follow Jesus he lit my path. If you believe in Jesus, your future is bright. Your path will shine brighter and brighter until the full day when Jesus returns.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. EPH 2.10
Whenever I’m tempted to think I might miss God’s will for my life, this verse reminds me he created good works for me to walk before he created the universe. Before he saved me. He desires me to walk in these works even more than I do. He has prepared them already and will make sure I don’t miss them.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. RO 8.28
Every believer suffers various kinds trials. Life’s not easy. But God works even the sad, hard and painful things together for our good. And we have a hope that someday in heaven we’ll see how our momentary light afflictions produced an eternal weight of glory far beyond comparison.
So…..Don’t give up hope. Keep asking God to pour out his abundant goodness on you.
Keep asking him to guide and instruct and show you the way you should go. Keep looking for his goodness. Keep hoping in the living god. I believe you will see God’s goodness in this life and a millionfold in heaven.
Your hope for the future isn’t based on you. It’s based on who God is and what he has promised.
Mark Altrogge
Source: 10 Reasons You Can Have Hope For The Future – The Blazing Center