Do you look to the future with optimism? Is it hard to have faith that the Lord has great plans in store for you? Would you like to believe that your future in Him is bright?
Sometimes, it’s hard to anticipate a hopeful future—especially when you and I are up to our eyeballs in challenges and troubles. Even so, our problems can never negate the fact that we have been chosen in Jesus Christ. We belong to the Lord, and all of our days are in His hands. Therefore, we can trust that He has a magnificent future for us.
A Faith Proclamation
Dick’s comments: In the summer months after my freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh, I took a job in one of the Jones & Laughlin Company steel mills to earn money to help cover the costs of my college education. Working with me at the mill were close college friends, all young Christians like me, who were also my co-laborers with Young Life, the evangelistic organization through which we all came to faith in Christ.
Working side by side in the hot strip finishing mill, we decided to challenge one another to memorize passages from the New Testament as an antidote to the oppressive environment we faced all around us. (Anyone who has ever worked in a steel mill knows it can be hot, dirty, noisy, dangerous work in rather unpleasant surroundings.)
The first verse I chose to memorize was Romans 8:18. Since all of us were reading the J.B. Phillips translation of the New Testament at that time, this was the version I used. “In my opinion whatever we may have to go through now is less than nothing compared with the magnificent future God has planned for us” [emphasis added].
How ironic! There I was—a grimy, 19-year-old laborer, working in a gritty steel mill, uncertain whether or not I could even complete my university studies, or what career lay ahead for me. Yet what was I proclaiming for myself? A magnificent future!
What God Has Planned
Philip’s comments: Probably one of the most reassuring verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11 (NASB 1995). God spoke these words directly, and every one of us can receive them as His promise to us: “’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”
Do you sometimes wonder whether there is any kind of positive future for you? Are your current problems obscuring the prospects for any improvement in your situation? Please hear these words right now! Realize that they are not coming from me, but directly from the mouth of the Lord: “My plans are to give you a future and a hope!”
We may have a hard time believing this in view of our own feelings of inadequacy or our present failures. But what does God have in store for us? A magnificent future.
A Recurring Promise
Philip and Dick: The passage from Jeremiah is one of the most encouraging you will ever find, and we use it often as we minister to the people God places in our path. Thankfully, God’s promises for a positive future appear frequently in His Word.
Just one other example (although we could cite many) is Psalm 37:37: “Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; for the future of that man is peace” [emphasis added]. In contrast to that promise is the warning carried in the next verse: “But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; the future of the wicked shall be cut off” [v. 38, emphasis added]. The future the Lord offers us is contingent upon how we respond to Him. For those who follow and obey Him, our future will be a peaceful one. For those who decide to oppose and disobey His commands, they will not have any future at all.
For those of us who know Jesus Christ, it is good to keep in mind the most glorious aspect of the future that awaits us: spending eternity in the presence of Jesus under the loving gaze of our heavenly Father. Truly, that is the ultimate magnificent future!
An Optimistic Viewpoint
While he was alive, Derek Prince was consistently optimistic about the future—and he taught us to be optimistic as well. The rationale for Derek’s mindset is evident in the quote below—from week one of his four-week radio series, “Facing the Future.” (The titles for each day of this week of teaching are: The Bible Unveils the Future; Secret Things and Revealed Things; Waiting for Christ; Christ Already Reigns; and Continuous Victory.)
Derek confirms the fact that the Lord has given us a magnificent future.
I want to say that the Bible gives us solid, objective grounds for facing the future as optimists and not as pessimists. When we look out in the light of the Bible on the human scene today, we can say, “The glass of history is half-full, not half-empty.” By this, I mean that we can say the purposes of God, clearly predicted in the Bible, have been fulfilled up to this point. Therefore, we can be confident that the ones that are not yet fulfilled will be fulfilled. The glass is being filled up; it’s not being emptied out.
Many who do not have that viewpoint look out on the human situation today as pessimists. They say, “Time is running out. Resources are running out. The population explosion is overtaking us. We’re not going to have enough food. The atmosphere is being polluted.” They have all sorts of attitudes which really amount to saying, “The glass is half-empty.”
But, from my point of view, being a student of the Bible and believing it, when I look at the scene in the world today, I can praise the Lord and say, “The glass is half-full. God’s purposes have been worked out to this point—and they’re going to be worked out all the way.”
A Future-Changing Prayer
Based on what we have shared so far, and on what Derek has observed in his comments, are you ready for a transforming moment? Rather than passively accepting the prospect of an uncertain, dismal future, let’s take a moment together now to declare our trust in the Lord—our hope in His intention to give us a magnificent future.
Lord, I take my stand now in the promise You have spoken with Your own mouth. I believe Your words, Lord—that You know Your plans for me, and they are plans for welfare and not calamity, to provide me with a future and a hope!
Thank You, Lord. Right now, I take authority in the Name of Jesus over every dark, foreboding image the enemy is placing in my mind regarding the days ahead. Instead, Lord, I receive Your promise for my hopeful future in You. Amen.
Taking Deliberate Action
As with all the promises the Lord offers, we have a very significant part to play in their outworking. It is not enough simply to believe the promise is true and real. You and I must take deliberate action to appropriate what God has promised us. This is exactly what we have done through the prayer and proclamation we just offered together.
All of us at DPM applaud you in the step you have taken, and we stand with you as you continue to move ahead in faith into the future the Lord has planned for you. Frankly, we believe that future will have a better chance for fulfillment as you soak in the Word of God—and that’s where we can assist you in a practical way. It is our joy to supply you with Bible-based materials by Derek Prince, starting with our free offer for “Facing the Future, Week One” the message from which we extracted Derek’s quote. Just use the download link below.
We hope you know how important you are to us. Our offer to provide Derek’s materials for you is just one way for us to thank you for your prayers and your gifts.
Did They Know?
The pathway into the magnificent future God plans for you will be filled with many steps of faith. Those steps are particularly difficult when you face challenging obstacles that make it seem as if the possibility of a positive future is remote at best.
Let’s take a moment to consider the following questions. Did Joseph know about his successful future when he was being thrown into a pit by his jealous brothers? Did Esther know about her redemptive future when she was facing possible execution for trying to save her nation? Did the three young men know about any potential future beyond their sentence of death in the fiery furnace? Did Daniel know about his magnificent future when he was condemned to a gruesome mauling in the lion’s den?
At these low points in the lives of each of the Biblical characters cited above, the prospect of ANY future for them was non-existent. Even so, each of them responded in faith. For us as well, regardless of our current circumstances, we serve a redemptive, miracle-working God. We can trust Him to fulfill His plans for our lives.
And what does our faithful God offer to each of us? A magnificent future!
Sincerely in Christ,
Philip Wyns
President, DPM-USA
All the best,
Dick Leggatt
Executive Consultant/Senior Editor
