"Prospects"

"Prospects"    

    

     

   We can all imagine scenarios that cause us to wonder how we would respond to future possibilities.  More literally, our spiritual enemies tempt us to view the matters in terms of facing them alone - "How would I deal with that?" .  For born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the wrong question.

   "I am with you always" (Matthew 28:20).

   "How would we deal with that?" (meaning, "How will the Lord and I respond to whatever the future may hold?").  The very essence of the Christian life involves the active presence of God in all things, including the pleasant, the painful, and even the prosaic matters that seem to elicit neither joy or sorrow.  As we frequently suggest in these messages, we live life as a "we" rather than as a "me".  Thus, when thoughts of a future encountered alone come to mind, we must quickly dismiss them in remembrance of our Heavenly Father's promised presence of loving involvement.  "I will dwell in them and walk in them" (II Corinthians 6:16).

    The pleasant things of life come to us as the gifts of God.  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights" (James 1:17).  Thus, we look forward to a future of opportunity to experience the generosity of our Lord, and also our privileged responsibility of offer thanksgiving.  The painful things of life will be experienced in a dispensation of His presence beyond the norm - "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).  The prosaic and commonplace events will also be experienced with the Lord Jesus, and thus can become extraordinary as we remember and affirm His promised coordination of "all things together for good" (Romans 8:28).  The anticipation of "We" changes everything in our prospects when we expect God to be the other Party in our journey together.

    Our spiritual enemies tempt us to contemplate the future as a landscape barren of the most important reality of all, namely, the presence and working of the Lord on our behalf.    The future includes this day, of course, and as we embark upon the present journey, let us rejoice that whence we go, we go not alone.  Our Heavenly Father journeys with us as we go, and He will be awaiting us at our destinations.  "I am with you always" promised the Lord Jesus.  Moreover, His promise involves far more than mere presence, but rather the accompanying assurance of grace, provision, enabling, and intimate involvement in every moment.  We respond by faith, and the determination to remember and affirm always the living of life as a "We".

"I will be with thee."

(Isaiah 43:2)

Weekly Memory Verse 

   God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

(Psalm 46:1)