STRONG TO THE END

“He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:8 NIV).

Paul’s words to the church body at Corinth were meant to encourage and strengthen them with the resolve to finish the course of their life “in strength.”

With every passing day we see an increase in the uncertainty level of the world. Just when it seems an answer is beginning to be worked out for one problem, an even greater problem appears on the horizon. This morning I read a dire forecast about the second wave of credit problems that analysts are now warning about. Will these crises never end? No, probably not!

The future is relentless, never stopping. There is no way to dodge it and no way to step over it. We are slaves to the future. What looked distant a short time ago is now here and what was just here is now the past. Like a relentless predator, our life journey is constantly taking us into the uncharted territory of the future.

In our limited view of life we have memories of the past, some pleasant, some not. Some are washed into the corners of our minds and only occasionally come back. We are keenly aware of the present—well most of us are…some New Yorkers tend to think of themselves as the future and we just smile and love them anyway! For most of us, the future is a blank page (except for prophecy teachers and then it is a chart that nobody understands except them). God has not given man the ability to see clearly into the future and, in my opinion, He has done so for a very simple reason. I believe God deliberately keeps the future murky so we will live by faith, trusting in Him!

What we don’t know almost always brings feelings of uncertainty and for some it brings anxiety and fear. Our inability to see the future clearly will cause us to take one of two roads through the remainder of our life. Road one is what I call the low road. The low road is filled with anxiety and fear. Travelers on the low road spend a lot of time and energy worrying about tomorrow, anxious if they will be able to survive, wondering what to do if their fears materialize. “Low roaders” spend a lot of time worrying about inconsequentials. They don’t live by faith—they spend most of their time living by sight and feelings. When they don’t feel well or things don’t look good, they take that as a sure sign that they have done something wrong. Low roaders spend a lot of time worrying and thinking, “I have missed the perfect will of God.”

Sometimes by mistake I put myself on the low road. How do I know that I have taken a wrong turn and am travelling on the wrong path? I know because I begin to be critical and I spend time and energy worrying and fretting about everything. When this happens, I remind myself in no uncertain terms that He is the Lord, He is the Shepherd, and my place is to be one of His sheep. He sets the pace and guides the flock; He knows where I am to be in the pasture. I remind myself that He is the same yesterday, today and forever! I also remind myself that He is in charge and is already alive in my future!

The “high roader” is no less aware of life than the “low roader” but has chosen to live his life by faith. He has made his Savior the Lord and Shepherd of his life and he is not trying to live his life for his own personal pleasure but has chosen to live as a child/son of God in complete submission to His plans and purposes.

The “high roader” does not give in to worry and carry unnecessary burdens, because his Savior carries those for him (see 1 Peter 5:7 and Psalm 55:22). My choice is to live as a high roader!

Regarding our future, I believe it is normal to have some sense of uncertainty but only in regard to our not knowing exactly how things will work out between here and the final conclusion. But that uncertainty is to be coupled with expectancy (hope) that as God has been faithful in the past, He will be again today and tomorrow. I have no idea of exactly how life will be a year or even a month from now but God, who has been faithful to meet my needs, who has protected and ministered to me and to my family until now, will do so in the future as much or more as He has done in the past. Expectation—yes! Anxiety—no!

Over the next few weeks we will explore the subject of “Stepping Into Our Future With Confidence.” God has opened a very powerful passage of scripture to me as He gave instructions to one of His great generals about how he (Joshua) was to step into his future. This is a rich and encouraging teaching and I trust you will be blessed by it as I have been.

I finish today with the words of Paul that I put at the beginning of this article: “He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”