Fear Not – God Holds Your Future

Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.  Corrie Ten Boom

Many of us are facing insurmountable mountains in our lives – financial, physical, emotional, and relational. They cause us to fear and lose hope. We fear the future will not bode us any good. We wonder where God is. Does He see us? Does He care about our future?

This is how Gideon, the Israelite, felt when the Midianites continually came to raid their villages and to steal everything they had worked hard to build. Their present was so bleak that they couldn’t see their future becoming any better (Judges 6:3-6). They feared what their future would hold. In their place of fear and despair, they cried out to God for help. God heard their cry and answered them. He used Gideon as His instrument to miraculously defeat the Midianites so that they could move into the hopeful future He had for them. However, before God could use Gideon, there needed to be a paradigm shift in his thinking about his identity. Gideon’s identity was marked by fear, dread and hopelessness. This changed when the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said,

“’The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valour.’” Judges 6:12 (ESV)

This became a game-changer for Gideon. It changed how he thought about his situation and about himself. But most importantly, it changed how he thought about God. He now saw God as omnipresent and omnipotent. He saw that God was able to save them. Gideon’s identity was changed from fearful, desperate and hopeless to one marked by faith, trust and hope. When Gideon stopped seeing himself as defeated but as more than an overcomer, he was able to face the enemy. He was able to trust the Lord to intervene in his present. To trust Him for the hopeful future He had for him and His people (Jeremiah 29:11).

Trust God with Your Future

As followers of Jesus Christ, we can trust God with our future. We do not have to accept the identity that the enemy of our souls, Satan, has duped us into believing. We do not have to succumb to despair and hopelessness about the future. We have been born again into a living hope through Jesus Christ, who died and rose from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV) says,

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Jesus Christ is alive and interceding for us before the Father. Therefore, we need not despair about the future. We can hope in a living God and Saviour who holds all our tomorrows!

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow!

Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know He holds the future,

And life is worth the living, just because He lives. Bill and Gloria Gaither

Reflection

Are the mountains of challenges you are facing causing you to fear what the future holds? Why not give your fears to Jesus and trust Him to intervene and give you hope for the future?

Prayer

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that you died and rose again from the dead. Thank You that You are alive and interceding for me before the Father. Lord, I release the challenges I am facing to You and ask You to intervene on my behalf and save me. I give all my fears of the future to You. Thank You, Lord, for promising me a hopeful future. Thank You, Lord, that my future is held safely in Your hands. In Jesus’ name, amen.