Trust: Faith, Hope, & Love

If there was a way for you to see your future-find out who you'd marry, where you'd live, what you'd do for a living-would you? I wouldn't. That would take all the fun out of growing up! Aristotle said something to the extent of, "Youth live in anticipation, and the old live in memory." In other words, the youth live in anticipation of their future, dreaming about what their lives will be like. And old folk spend their time living in memories, remembering what they've done, where they've gone, and who they've met over the course of their long lives. I think if youth learned their future, they'd lose motivation and hope.

Honestly, I have no desire to see into the future. Those are just things man shouldn't learn. I don't want to know who my future wife is, what job I'll have, where I'll live, what my kids will be like, or anything else. Why? Because what if it turns out that I die in a car wreck in three years? Or what if I find out that America gets destroyed by foreign armies in two years? Or what would I do with myself if I find out that in two months, most of the world's population is killed by a incurable virus? I wouldn't want to live with that kind of knowledge! 

But let's be real: most of us (okay, all of us) will never have a chance to know the future. So why am I even talking about it? Because I think most of us, especially teenagers, desperately wish to know the future. Have you ever asked God to reveal your future spouse to you? Or have you asked God to place a neon sign on the college He wants you to go to (but you pray this in middle school)? I have. And in conversations with several of my friends, they have similar desires. But if knowing the future is so bad, why do we want to know?

I think part of it is because we all want to control our little worlds. And part of it is that no one enjoys living in uncertainty. The anxiety, the nerves, the apprehension: it can all get to be a bit too much at time. We think it'd be nice to have a "Easy" button to press when the uncertainty becomes too over-whelming. I know many girls who are afraid they will never get married; they're afraid no one will ever fall in love with them. I know some guys that are afraid of death. I know some people who are afraid of failing. But the thing is: God has a purpose in our uncertainty. Without worry and fear and uncertainty, we'd have no reason to trust God. We need God to trust God. We need him because we can't control our futures; He does. We need him because we're scared and afraid of what the future might hold; but He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" We need him because He is the only one who can help us through whatever is in our future. We need Him because He is a strong fortress, a strong tower, that we can run to in times of trouble and need.

I've learned to trust God in some areas, and I'm learning to trust Him in others. I used to be afraid that I would never have a girl like me or think I was attractive. I've overcome that fear because I rest in His comfort. I used to be afraid that I might somehow miss my future wife. But my belief is that if God has a young woman picked out for me, and if He's chosen me for that same young woman, then He wouldn't let us miss each other. If it's God's will that we be married, then I'm pretty sure He would see to it that we meet. I'm learning to be content with God. I know, I know, that sounds silly. But there are times when I'd rather follow my will because it seems to have more to offer. Those times never end well for me and I end up wishing I had trusted God. So I'm learning to be content and trust His plan and His timing more than my own.

I come back to Jeremiah 29:11. God knows the plans He has for us. He has plans to prosper us, not to harm us, and plans to give us hope and a future. I rest in that promise when the going gets tough. To me, trust means three things: faith, hope, and love. Faith, because we need to trust in God's planning and faithfulness. Hope, because if we keep our eyes His promise (Jer. 29:11), our trust, faith, and joy will grow. Love, because God is love; because love covers a multitude of sins; because God commanded us to love God and love others; because "these three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love."