“The plans I have for you [are] for good . . to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
Optimism about the future is empty unless God is included there.
My thoughts and comments today are about “Godly optimism.”
In one’s life, a new season is exciting. You sense there is more, more ahead for you. Your heart and spirit is newly exhilarated. You know God is up to something, and it is going to be good. God, who is eternal, spans all of time. His plan encompasses what has already happened, what you are currently experiencing, and all that He has planned for your good. Read Romans 8:28-29. Nothing that has happened or is happening now will be wasted in God’s economy. In grace, God recycles anything that touches your life into something of blessing.
I recall a time when I began to feel God stirring in my heart. Gradually, a simple understanding clarified His instruction, “Purposefully position yourself, facing the future.” Your future is not foreboding; in God’s providence, your future is full of good things. “Surely God is good . . to those who are pure in heart.” Psalm 73:1 NIV. There was a corner to turn; a new season was ahead. Meanwhile, those words began to focus my plans and direct my efforts, motivating me to invest every effort and energy with expectation. See Philippians 3:13 NLT. Your future deserves priority and attention.
Really, that’s how life should be lived all the time, isn’t it? Optimism about the future is empty unless God is included there. “The plans I have for you [are] for good . . to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11 NLT. Some are content to mark time, reliving their past, merely existing while overlooking a future with unlimited possibilities. “Purposefully positioning yourself, facing the future,” encourages an investment of your best effort, directs your full energies, and creates expectation. Life is different when you live with Godly optimism. See James 1:17-18NIV.
Live as Jesus lived, with an unwavering conviction, “I must be about My Father’s business.” Luke 2:49. That’s where joy, peace, fulfillment, and confidence are found. It isn’t about knowing everything the future holds; that is neither likely nor realistic. Your future is safe in God’s hand and plans. Expect good from His hands and not harm. Living fully in the moment is a posture of expectation. “Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:2-5 NIV.
You are not meant to worry about the future or be so preoccupied with what is yet unseen and unknown that you miss opportunities today. Today is ultimately about preparing yourself to fully inherit God’s future and intent for you. God wants to include you in His grand adventure. “My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved . . Trust in Him at all times.” Psalm 62:5-8 NKJV.
It is easy to miss some measure of your future when you are a captive of the past or captivated in the moment. In God, all that has gone before is prelude for what is yet to be. Appreciate your history; enjoy every minute of this moment; but your future in view. Tomorrow, not yesterday, is where your greatest accomplishments and satisfaction still await.
My prayer for you this day is: have assurance of what God holds in His heart for you.