The Girl Next Door ☎︎: The Everlasting Father {Part 4: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come}

The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is the scariest spirit of all. Why? Because we fear the unknown most of all. When faced with his future, Scrooge faces the consequences for his sins, he faces death.

"Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!" - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

WHEN THE FUTURE HAUNTS YOU

Praise the Lord that, to Him, the future holds no uncertainty! And our ultimate future is certain, too. Those of us who are found in Christ know, without a doubt, that our future destination is eternal life in heaven with God. But what about our immediate future? Well, that's in God's hands too.

"Even before a word is on my tongue,behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it." Psalm 139:4-6

God holds yesterday, today, and tomorrow in the palm of His hand. Though tomorrow is uncertain to us, God knows what we will say and do. The future can tempt us in many ways. We can either overly look forward to or overly dread its arrival. Either way, we idolize tomorrow. Whether we are anxious or discontent, we place the next chapter of life above God.

FAITH CONQUERS FUTURE GHOSTS

Anxiety and discontentment lack faith in God. Oftentimes, we try to "fix" our discontentment by throwing away our today. We so desperately want a future event or season to arrive that we wish away all the days leading up to "the day we will finally be happy". But discontentment will not suddenly disappear the moment "that day" arrives. Once that happy season we counted down for finally arrives (and often disappoints our high expectations), we will begin the countdown for an even "happier" event.

God wants us to wait on Him because He is teaching us patience and preparing our hearts for the future.

On the other-hand, we often try to "fix" our anxiety about tomorrow by preparing in our own sinful way for the future. We create checklists, schedules, and notes, doing everything we can to "ease the pain" for when that dreaded event of tomorrow becomes that dreaded event of today.

These "quick fixes" may place a bandaid on our emotions, but they will never bring lasting peace or contentment. While it is not wrong to prepare for the things to come, we must make sure our hearts are fully surrendered to God's plans.

The future never satisfies those with misplaced hope.

When we constantly prepare and dread the future, we easily burn out because we rely on our own strength. We tend to plan based on our own will, not God's. We presume upon tomorrow, thinking we can control it. But we are not even promised tomorrow!

Only a genuine faith in Christ can satisfy our longings and ease our fears. The Lord has blessed us with today and even that is more than we deserve. May we trust God with our future so we can focus on the blessings of today. When we number our days, making each one count for God's Kingdom, God gives us His eyes to see the future. We are free to wisely prepare for the future while fully trusting and submitting to God's sovereignty.

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

Because our times are in God's hands, we can respond with "establish the work of our hands" (Psalm 90:17), knowing that we need God's favor to do anything worthwhile. That is how we prepare for the future with wisdom. We depend on the Lord's will and wisdom, not our own. In regards to the future we say, "Tomorrow, if the Lord wills" or "Lord willing, I will do _____".