Milestones
After every milestone of life, we often try and imagine the future before us. Graduations from school, promotions, marriage, birthdays, loss of a job, children born, or the death of a loved one are all milestones that cause us to wonder about our future. Now, after many weeks of COVID-19, isolation, social distancing, and the whole world on pause, we are beginning to ask, “What’s next? What does the future look like? Where do we go from here?”
As I pondered on these thoughts, I couldn’t help but look back on the days when Fred and I were in Russia. We had gone to direct a Bible school, and after one week, everything turned upside down. Our students were arrested, and the next week we found ourselves on an airplane returning home. Only there was no more home to return to. We had sold the house, given up almost everything for that mission, and it was all lost in just a few short days. I remember crying on the airplane wondering, now what? Where do we go from here? Now more than twenty years later, I look back and see where God has taken us. From that day on, God put us on a new path. He gave us new countries to work in, along with new friends, new ministries, open doors, and opportunities. Those few hard days in Russia changed the course of our lives, and we have never been the same.
Today you may be looking to the future, and the uncertainties of life may seem overwhelming. You may be asking yourself questions like: What about my job? How will I support my family? Will life ever be normal again? What is normal now?
The whole course of your life is changing, and change is sometimes a fearful thing. Instead of looking at the future as something to be feared, look to the future with eyes of faith, knowing that even though change is all around, God never changes. He is a firm foundation that can be stood upon, and we are secure in him. We can not see the future, but God has already been before us. He knows our tomorrows as well as he knows our past and he has a plan.
So, where do we go from here? Forward, we go ahead, never looking back. We are about to have new opportunities, new open doors, new jobs, and new friends. While it is true that nothing will ever be the same again, we should be excited to see what God is doing, embracing the future, looking for new opportunities, and new experiences. The past will never be our future. God has a new adventure already planned for us. Life as we know it is changing, and that’s a good thing.