By Chris WittsWednesday 17 Apr 2013Morning Devotions with Chris WittsLifeReading Time: 0 minutes
Transcript:
Are you old enough to remember Doris Day’s song from 1956? It was No 2 on the hit parade.
‘When I was just a little girl,I asked my mother what will I be?
Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? Here’s what she said to me.
Que sera,sera,whatever will be,will be.
The future’s not ours to see. Que sera,sera.
How true these words are – we cannot know what the future holds. But there seems to be a great trend these days for people to try to foresee what the future holds. Read the glossy magazines with articles and predictions ..and clairvoyants sift through playing cards,read tea leaves or try to analyse the palms of hands to predict the future for their anxious patrons. But,I wonder if it is a good thing to know exactly what the future holds for us & for those we love? Do we really want to know the good or bad news! Ultimately,because if you believe in God and hold God’s promises in your heart,you can look positively to the future. We can live in hope because we know that God is with us and God will help us through whatever the future holds. I am wondering if that’s how you see life today.
But the reality is that we don’t really know what’s around the corner ..If life is based on chance,then we would be compelled to make whatever meaning we can out of it. Life is not fair,some of us get dealt a bad hand and we grin and bear it’ or ‘complain about our lot in life’. If we believe that there is no future then we think that being positive or negative won’t really make a difference. Maybe then we make the most of the moment and try not to think too much about what the future might hold. Like Doris Day says “whatever will be,will be. “We’ll have to wait and see.
So,as we look at our own lives, we may not understand the trials that we are forced to undertake – there could be pain,the anxiety and the turmoil .. but I want to say to you that God sees it all and is suffering with us in our pain. God will help us through. And God has a long term plan – one that goes beyond this life into the next.
The early American Indians had a unique practice of training their young braves. On the night of a boy’s 13th birthday,after learning hunting,scouting and fishing skills,he was put to a final test. He was placed in a dense forest to spend the entire night alone. Until then,he had never been away from the security of the family and the tribe. But on this night,he was blindfolded and taken several miles away. When he took off his blindfold,he was in the middle of a thick forest and he was terrified. Every time a twig snapped,he visualised a wild animal ready to pounce. After what seemed like an eternity,dawn broke and the first rays of sunlight entered the interior of the forest. Looking around the boy saw flowers,trees and the outline of a path. Then to his utter astonishment,he saw the figure of a man standing just a few feet away,armed with a bow and arrow. It was his father. He had been there all night long.
And so it is with our Heavenly Father,even though we may not see him,he is there beside us,through our fears,our trials,feeling with us in our pain and shedding tears with us in our sorrows. God is love and God cares for us.
Through faith in God’s love and God’s word,we are empowered and resourced so that we can endure and survive,finding our way through the difficult times and on towards new life and new hope. May God help us to boldly and courageously endure whatever the future may hold for us. Amen.