In this industrialized American culture, focused on innovation and prosperity, it’s easy to be swept up in a mad scramble into the future. Really, though, that isn’t where the majority of our thoughts should tend. Focusing all our efforts on the future is a slippery slope since, as James 4:13-15 argues, we can’t ever even know what our futures will look like anyway.
Throughout our lives, we’re constantly assaulted by people and things that want to claim our time. Family, friends, work, school… the list goes on and on. Americans can be very goal-oriented. This is not a bad thing in and of itself. The problem arises when we plan for the future to the detriment of living in the present.
In Luke 12, Jesus talks about how humans should think about the future. “Consider the lilies,” He urges, explaining that they don’t plan for themselves, but are taken care of by God. Verses 25 and 26 read, “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters?”
It’s natural for us to want control of our lives, but ultimately that is something we just do not have. Instead, if we let go of our futures and focus on listening for the voice of God in each present moment, He will provide for our future as we take each step.
It would be easy to take this verse and others like it and extrapolate that we should never plan for anything. However, this isn’t the right answer either. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” It doesn’t contradict Luke 12.
Rather, these two verses work together to create the balanced life God wants for us. Preparedness isn’t a bad thing. If we are to live to the full extent of what God has planned for us, we need to constantly work towards our best self. That means learning, studying, working, setting goals, achieving them… and so much more. Preparing for the future is something we can do in the present, which is exactly where God wants us to be.
As for the future itself – that is God’s domain. He’s the one who knows what’s ahead for us, and He has a life planned for us that’s so much more amazing than anything we could have come up with by ourselves. With a full view of time, He truly can “work all things together for our good,” as Romans 8:28 tells us He does.
In times of trouble, our first instinct is often to worry. Anxious thoughts overwhelm us and we struggle to accept reality as it is, in favor of focusing all of our energy into producing the future we want. To do so is to deprive ourselves of a chance to see God’s work in our lives. Rather, in those times, it’s our job to “rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him,” as it says in Proverbs 37:7.
Rest and patience in the face of trouble contradict our primary instinct, but if we give up our own impulses and replace them with God’s plan, He will give us rest. In the words of Psalm 55:22, “He will sustain [us]; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”
