A Question for Those Thinking About the Future
Listen Here:
One of the most frightful and at the same time hopeful things in our lives is the future.
And when I say future that includes everything that is counted as future, from what you’ll be doing in 5 years to what you’ll be doing in 5 minutes after reading this podcast. Presently at UNC many if not all of us are constantly thinking about and planning for the future, ranging from the people we’re going to see later today and the exams we have next week, to what we’re going to do next summer and what we’re going to do with our life once we graduate.
College definitely is the place to think about, stress over, and/or get excited about your future. But thinking about your future is absolutely not limited to college. I know many of you reading are thinking of deadlines you have to prepare for and hit, whether that is for work related things or maybe even family related things, like planning for thanksgiving and getting the house and the traveling plans ready for that.
The reality is we stress over the question ‘What should I do with my future’ all the time and that question comes up in different forms…we ask:
’What should I do with my afternoon?’
‘What should I do for Thanksgiving?’
‘What should I do with my summer?’
‘What should I do with my life?’
We ask future related questions all. the. time.
And although those questions are not inherently bad, they can reach a point where they control so much of our thoughts and actions that they become that way, because
We may lose and waste the present moment.
We may try to take control of our future, taking that responsibility away from God and placing it on ourselves.
Now all of that leads me to today…today I want to talk about a different question, one that helps us keep our focus on Christ while also surrendering control of our future to Him.
Let’s talk about it.
-
I want to propose to you today a question that I have been asking myself, or, rather, asking God in prayer, the past week or so. I’ve even gone as far as to write this question on my whiteboard in my room in big-lettering, in order to help keep my focus in the right place throughout the day.
And what is that question, you might be asking?
That question is: ‘What does faithfulness look like today?’
‘What does faithfulness look like today?’
That is a question that is so straightforward, so simple, so important, and yet I don’t think we ask it enough. I’ve thought as to why we don’t ask ourselves this question enough and I genuinely think it is because we get so caught up in what's next, we get caught up in tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow, that we completely overlook and forget what the goal and mission of the Christian is today: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, & might, and to go therefore and make disciples of all nations.
Our goal and mission everyday is to be faithful to the Lord. That's our mission. Everyday. It hasn’t changed and it never will. BUT, unfortunately for me, and maybe you would be able to say the same yourself, it is so easy to be led away from this mission because of my fretting over the future. For example, there have been times I haven’t been fully engaged in conversations with people because I am thinking about what is next…I am thinking about the work that needs to get done later that day or the internship that needs to be applied for or the phone call I have in a few minutes and not the person right in front of me.
Or, more distinctly put, I’ve really struggled at times to be faithful and present here at UNC because I am so wrapped up in where I’ll be this summer and what I’ll be doing.
I currently have no idea where I’ll be or what I’ll be doing and yet I feel like I’m supposed to, because I mean that's the talk of the town at UNC…the talk is essentially what’s next? What classes are you taking next semester? What are you going to be doing next summer? Next next next, tomorrow tomorrow tomorrow, we talk about the future all the time and it's hard not to get caught up in it, especially when it feels like everyone else has their future figured out but you.
But, but but but, here’s what I’ve learned in that and what I want to pass on to you…
I’ve learned that God operates on a need to know basis, and if you don’t know, you must not need to.
In other words, regarding your future, if you think there is something that you need to know now, something that will free you up in the present moment, and give the clarity you believe you need to move forward, and yet God hasn’t given that to you yet…well then you must not need it.
God never leaves His people in the woodworks…Matthew 6 says He feeds the birds and clothes the grass of the field. And if He does that, how much more will He supply all your needs! He will give you what you need when you need it.
And that includes the answer to the question ‘What should I do with my future’, which, frankly, I’m not so certain God gets as caught up in as we do.
And why is that? Well that's because God cares more about today than He does tomorrow. Jesus says in Matthew 6:34,
‘Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble’.
The greek word for anxious in that verse can also be translated to take thought…which is why other translations like the KJV say ‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow’.
In other words, in not so Shakespearean language, Jesus is encouraging us in Matthew 6:34 not to think about tomorrow!!!! That's not to say tomorrow doesn’t matter and we should completely ignore responsibilities or deadlines or events later in the week, but these words of Jesus’ should serve as a priority setter for us.
Today is much more valuable than tomorrow.
And that brings us back to our question ‘What does faithfulness look like today?’
I’ve started asking this question to the Lord because it's truly what matters most. It gets me off of the future and its unknowns and it captivates my attention in the present. I mean above all we want to be faithful to the will of God, right? We want to be faithful to what He has right in front of us. So when we ask that question ‘What does faithfulness look like today?’ and we live our lives with alert eyes for God to reveal to us what that looks like, we no longer look to what's next and miss what God has right in front of us.
Think about that. How much have you missed out on because you're focused on what's next? How many conversations have you cut short, how many people have you overlooked, how many opportunities have you missed to be a witness for Christ because you're focused on the future? I’m certain if you gave some time to reflect and think about those questions you’d realize you miss out on a lot more than you thought contemplating your future.
I remember I sat in a church meeting this summer where one of my good friends shared that ‘no interaction is a coincidence’...He said that every interaction you have, whether it's with a stranger, a waiter, a cashier, a classmate, every interaction, is not a coincidence. I wonder how many of those interactions in class, at a restaurant, the grocery store, walking down the street, I wonder how many interactions we miss out on the opportunity to be greatly used by God because we’re so focused on the future and what's next.
‘What does faithfulness look like today?’
‘What does faithfulness look like this afternoon?’
‘What does faithfulness look like this evening?’
‘What does it look like this hour?’
These questions are short prayers that include God in the little things of your life and also keep your focus centered on Him. These questions consider the future AND they surrender it too.
Like I said earlier, thinking about the future is not a bad thing. It’s not. But the Lord will reveal His perfect plan for your future according to His perfect timing, and so if you don’t know something you think you need to, you must not actually need to know right now. And if you don’t have something you think you need, again, you must not need it right now.
So to the person reading who is fretting over their future, maybe you're thinking about where to go to college or what to do this summer or what to begin a career in or maybe you’re wondering what's next for your kids or what is going to happen with ‘X’ thing at your job, whatever future circumstance you may be consumed with, might I encourage you to start asking a different question…might I encourage you to start asking ‘ ‘What does faithfulness look like today?’.
I remember a while back my friend shared a quote with me from DL Moody, who said
‘The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to Him’.
Now I love that quote, and I think it's applicable to our topic today. ‘The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully faithful to Him, to His plan and His will’.
I want to be faithful with my future, and I’m sure you do too, and being faithful with what God has in store then starts with being faithful with what God has for you now. It starts being faithful with today.
‘What does faithfulness look like today?’...
I encourage you to pray that all throughout this week and be ready for how God chooses to answer it…you may end up having a conversation you didn’t expect to have, or at the very least you may find that your mind was not so focused on the future and more focused on the present.
And that's a good thing, because God can’t meet and use you in tomorrow, because tomorrow hasn’t happened yet.
But He certainly can meet and use you today, and that’s what I want, I don’t know about you.
I love you all.
God bless.
