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Face The Future by Keith Cook
"What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me." Psalm 56:3,4
Let's look into the future and ask the Lord to show us some things that will help us as we deal with the future as it comes upon us.
Do you have a couple of minutes to look into the future? The question really is will you take a couple of minutes to look into the future? If you want to look deeper into what is at hand then let us look into our future for a few moments together.
In looking at our future there are key elements to consider. Over the next few days we are going to look at each of them. Each of these elements can lead you through times of great pain or times of great joy and excitement.
Face The Future
The first thing about the future is that we have to face the future.
We have to look at the future and what is coming and be very practical. God would have us reinforce the concept of being practical by our being solid and sound.
You know a lot of us look at the future and we think, "Okay, I don't have to do anything. You know, God said that He is going to take care of me. I don't have to work. I don't care about the have needs for survival. I don't care about the hurricanes or individuals who are trying to put their lives back together. I don't care about anything. I can just sit here and I don't have to do anything because God will come down here and sprinkle the water on us and we are just not going to burn up."
Now aren't you glad that there are some people who are practical and when they hear about things like hurricanes and natural disasters they still go out and do their job and face the possibility that there may be a tomorrow. Praise God for the police and bankers and computer programmers who are living like there will be a tomorrow.
You see, God doesn't want us to be foolish, He wants us to face the facts, face the future, and do what we can do in the natural to prepare for what may be coming in the natural (what we can see) and in the supernatural (the spiritual) world. God wants us to be practical about what is going on.
I heard a story one time about a man who was living in a big canyon and this canyon was going to be flooded.
The civil defense van came driving down the road and they were announcing with loud speakers, "Hello, Hello, Anybody in there? There's a flood coming!"
The guy came out on the front porch and yelled, "I don't see a flood. It's not raining here."
The civil defense representative responded with, "But it's raining way down the stream and it's all coming this way. It's been predicted that this whole valley is going to be flooded." The homeowner angrily yells out, "I don't see any rain. It is not raining here. You're not going to come in here and rob me of my home. I'm going to stay right here." The civil defense team sadly left the man on his porch.
Slowly the river rises higher and higher. Then, all of a sudden the water was up on his porch.
Then the man thought, "You know this guy might have actually been right about this, you know it could be raining upstream. It could get a little dangerous.
So you know what he did? He went up in his attic and climbed out onto his roof. He is sitting on his roof and he's watching the water rise higher and higher.
A guy comes by in a canoe. The guy in the canoe paddles up and he paddles all the way around the house. Then he yells up to the man on the roof, "You know, I've got enough room in my canoe for you. Would you like to get in with me?" Then the homeowner responds back, "Oh no, no, no, it's not going to get too high. I'll be okay. God will take care of me. I'm a Christian. Everything's okay. God said that there's nothing that's going to come to harm me and nothing can separate me from God. I'm okay, everything is going to be okay." So, he said "See you later," and he paddles off in his canoe.
Next, a motorboat came by and a guy with a big blue light on top of it. The driver yelled out, "Hey get down off that roof and come down here." He pleaded, "I'm here to save you."
The man replied, "No, God is going to take care of me. God is going to protect me. God is going to be my strength and my source and my sufficiency. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me, and I'm not going to die in this flood."
The policeman replied, "Okay, it's your life" and then he sped off.
A little while later a helicopter comes by flying low to the ground. Over their loud speakers they say, "Hey down there. We've come to save you."
Defiantly the homeowner screams out, "I don't need any help. God's going to take care of me. Go help someone else who really needs your help."
After a while the water got so high that it is up to his neck, then over his head, and then the man actually drowns. He finds himself standing in Heaven before God and God says to him, "Come on in. I've been waiting for you. You've been a good man, I love you, and I died for you."
The guy says, "But God there's a problem. You know the Bible says I can do all things through Christ and that you will never leave me or abandon me. But, you did abandon me. You left me on that roof to drown." Then God said, "No, I did not. I sent the civil defense, the canoe, the policeman and the helicopter. You didn't take my way out."
There are some of us who God is giving some very practical, Godly wisdom in the Word, in our culture, in our society, from our husbands or from our wives. We need to listen. "Listen". We have to face the future, it's upon us. And we have to exercise faith. By exercising our faith and facing our future we might just have to work a little bit.
Daily Prayer Focus: Ask God to give you the courage to face the future with Him. Be honest and open to what is in front of you. Ask Jesus to walk beside you into your future.
On The Go Prayer Focus: The 30 Minute Radio & Podcast Program "On The Go with Keith Cook". This is a weekly program airing over the internet, short wave, and radio stations. Each week Keith relates creative ways to share Christ. Pray for Keith, Joan, the On The Go Staff, and special guests as they minister on these broadcasts. You can hear these programs via our website if it is not available in your area.
Thank you for taking the time to pray for this important division of On The Go Ministries. For more information on any our ministries here at On The Go, you may send your questions to info@onthego.org.
Copyright (c) 2002, 2009 Keith Cook - On The Go
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