Matthew 24:1-14
When you think about the future what comes to mind? If you had to describe your outlook towards the future in one word, which word pop into your brain? Excited? Nervous? Anticipating? Dreading? Hopeful? Fearful? Irrelevant? Concerned?
Our attitude towards the future may depend on the state of our lives right now. If life is going well now, we likely don’t want much to change. We’d like to stay here and keep things as they are for as long as possible. So our thoughts about the future might be “I hope things continue as they are right now.”
But if our lives are in turmoil or there’s something not going well, we maybe hope for a better future. When we’re in those situations, we often will use the present to move towards that better future. We’re even willing to do hard things or work through difficult challenges in the hope of future improvement.
Usually, our lives contain a mixture. In some areas, things go well. IN other areas, we struggle. So we have to figure out how to get through the struggles while enjoying the blessings of the present.
Some of us may work too much or strive too hard to ensure everything in the present goes well. We also try to control everything we can about our future. If we attain a state where things are going well now and look under control for the future, only then we can experience contentment. But this is a never ending pursuit that we rarely attain.
