We’ve all pondered the thought before…
“If only I could know what was going to happen, if only I could know how it will all turn out, if only I could just see the future… then my life would be so much easier/I would have so much less anxiety/everything would be okay.”
I recently saw The Edge of Tomorrow. In the film, Tom Cruise’s character can see the future because he’s lived it before; he keeps living the same day over and over… until he is able to beat the bad guys, save the world, and win the girl, of course.
In the Old Testament, King Joram is also given a glimpse the future. After seven days of fighting against the king of Moab, the men had run out of water, at which point King Joram exclaimed, “What! Has the Lord called us three kings together only to hand us over to Moab?” (2 Kings 3:10).
He immediately doubted! Now, I’m not judging… Isn’t that what we all do? I know I do.
All too often, when things look bleak, my first reaction is, “What?!” immediately followed by some series of doubting questions to the Lord.
Well, thankfully the Lord is patient with me – with us – as he was with King Joram. Despite his doubting, the Lord tells him very clearly what the future holds – that they will have water and they will conquer Moab.
God may not give us a vision of what tomorrow looks like, like Tom. And He may not explicitly tell us what lies head, as with King Joram. But He is faithful, and He will provide a way. Even when we don’t see a way. Especially when we don’t see a way. For He tells us:
“I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” – Isaiah 43:19
We may have no evidence of any provision to come, no reason to believe there will be “water.” But isn’t that how God likes to work? In ways unexplainable. In ways that can only be explained by the mystery of His provision and His provision only.
“You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water.” – 2 Kings 3:17
What do you wish you could see of your future? What are the places of desolation in your life? I know I’d love to see the future of my acting career. To have some reassurance that success is on the way. This career certainly does seem desolate at times.
But what if instead of doubt and worry and despair, we had hope in that the more desolation there is today, the greater the opportunity for the Lord’s provision there is tomorrow.
The Lord wants to bless us. But He wants to bless us in a way that results in us pointing it all back to Him, give Him the glory for our successes.
Being able to see the future would be great. It would certainly give us less anxiety in regards to the unknown. But it would also be boring. And much less fulfilling. For us and for God.
With each passing day we stand at the edge of another unknown, at “the edge of tomorrow.” The question is, what kind of faith will we have today?
