If you're like me then I'm sure at one point in time or another you've wished for a glimpse of the future. In fact, there may have even been times past when the glimpse of that future could've spared you from some mistake or even hurt or heartache. I'm certain that there may have even been times when we might have prayed to God to give us these glimpses. Yet sadly, this aspiration of ours remains in the realm of wishes.
This has often been a source of confusion for me as a Christian. I have always believed in the omniscience of God. But initially, I could not reconcile His omniscience with a seeming indifference to my situation. With that in mind, I would sometimes end up asking myself questions like: "why? why didn't He tell me that that was going to happen?" "why didn't He show me a "sign" that he/she would not be good for me?""or that "this was the wrong company to join or wrong career to take"."why? I would often ask myself?""why allow us to go through seemingly needless suffering, heartache, pain, or at the very least-anxiety?"
In struggling for the answer to this I've had to look back on my life. Specifically during those times I felt that I was experiencing difficult things, situations, struggles on my own and not having enough strength to go "through" them. The times when I would find myself asking the question:"Lord, how much longer? Lord, How much more of this?". Those times when a glimpse of the future or of a solution to situation, deliverance, etc would have given me so much comfort and relief. That much sought after glimpse never came. The solution did-eventually.
The only comfort I had during those times were His promises and His faithfulness. In times of uncertainty, I've found these two to be the sturdiest handholds and footholds a Christian could ever hope for. Promises found in His word and memories of previous times when He has demonstrated His faithfulness to me. You see going through those difficult and uncertain situations wherein my own strengths were not enough to save me taught me one very precious truth. The truth is that God is and will always be faithful to His promises and He has more than enough power and authority to make sure that all His promises are kept.
If so, then why did He not just reveal His awesome power and faithfulness right away and spared us the anxiety, the uncertainty etc.?
Through my own experience I have come to believe that God chooses to reveal Himself to us progressively. This progressive revelation of His faithfulness and power allows us to enjoy deeper fellowship with Him specially in those times when we are at our weakest.
It's pretty much like how David describes it in the Psalms. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet". Walking with a lamp by your feet won't allow you to take great strides. With the lamp by our feet we only have enough light to take it one step at a time. Each step we take along the path becomes more purposeful and careful and as such even more meaningful. But the beauty of it is that in the end, as Christians, all these steps we take lead to Him.
So would I still like to know WHAT the future holds? The lesson I'm learning is that as a Christian I really don't need to know WHAT the future holds. All I need to remind myself of is WHO holds my future. :)
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