Who Knows What The Future Will Bring?

Psalm 90:4 – A thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, as one watch in the night.

It was the kind of Friday you want to forget. No, sorry, make that the kind of Friday you don't want to have happen. It was the end of a long, too busy week. The kind of week where the problems have to stand in line to get your attention. At the end of it, I made a small, but unnecessary mistake. I was fairly new to the job then, and was still learning. What I didn't know was that my supervisor was carrying a load that was almost too much to expect one person to carry. I suspect she had had a week every bit bad as the rest of us, and now, having to deal with me and my mistake was the last straw. She gave me a chewing-out that left tears in my eyes. I walked out of work that night, thinking I was finished, that I'd get a phone call telling me, "Don't bother coming in again."

Fast-forward several years. I'm still on the same job, helped by a lot of grit, prayer and effort. I've learned the ropes, and become good at this job. I've had an excellent year. I even picked up some commendations from my co-workers. Consider my joyous surprise when I found out that I won a major company award.

The lesson in this for me was that only God knows the future. Humans don't. I've often wondered where God was in a particular situation, only to see, with the clarity of hindsight, that God was holding me in the palm of His hand all along. There are quite a few prayers of mine that I was later thankful God didn't grant, because only God knows the future. It is only our limited, human perspective that blinds us to God in action. The utterly heart-shattering loss of Good Friday is necessary for the most utterly joyous day in all of time: Easter Sunday.

Does the world look black? I can't know the future, but I know Who does. This may be a prelude to an Easter morning for you. I pray it may be so.

Prayer: Lord God, please be with those who carry heavy burdens of all kinds this season. Grant them comfort, peace and the understanding that you will never cause an unnecessary tear, but your love and compassion is available to all. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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