*

Get
ti
ngYourHopesUpForTheFut
ure*

Li
fehasanunpr edict
ablenat
uretoit.Thatunpr edictablenat ureswingsbothway s-forthegood
andthebad.I '
veobservedthatweusual l
ydr eadt heunpr edictable.Wedreaditbecausewe
don'
tknowwhatl iesaheadofus.Wel ikeorder ,wel ikesetcour ses,wehaveplans,wewantour
i
nputtomat cht hepredict
edoutput,
wehav eexpect ations, wehav ehopes.Howev er,
sometimesthingst hatweresupposedt ogor ightj ustgol eft.Whent hi
ngsdon'tgoasexpect ed,
weloseourbal anceandbear i
ngsinthatmoment .Everythingseemst ocr
umbl einthatmoment
ofunpredi
ctabili
tybutit
'samoment ,howev erlongorshor titmaybe.Ther eiswi sdom i
n
knowingthat.Ithelpsyoubeartheseasonbet terandst i
llcontinuetohopeforaf utur
e.

Hopecanexi stevenwheny ouareinthet hickoft hi

ngsbutsomet imesev enthoset hathav e
stablel
ivesmayf indithardtohavehope.Somel osehopebecauseofwhatt heyhav ebeen
throughinli
fe.Thepat htheywalkedhasext inguishedthehopet hattheyhadf orthef utur
e.We
becomepessi mists,skepti
csand‘ r
eali
sts’.Toanext ent,t
hatrat
ionaleisunder st
andabl e.
Howev er,i
tshowst hatwhileyouhav egonet hrought hefi
reandt hewat ery
oucameoutofal lof
thatburnedout,withyourhopedampenedy etGodexpect sust ot r
iumphantlylookfor wardtoa
futuret
hatisbetterthanourpast.Inaway ,y ouwont hebatt
lebuty oulostt
hewar .

Someofusr eadi
ngthisarefamil
iarwit
hthet ermt hatthedevilcomest ostealkil
landdestroy.
Well,whil
ethedevilmaynothavedest r
oyedorki ll
edy ou,hesti
llclai
msv i
ctorybecausehest ol
e
yourfutur
efrom youandy oucannotexpecttor eceiveanythi
ngy oudon’thopef or.Dav i
dhad
hisfai
rshareofpersecuti
onsinhisearl
ylif
etime.Al thoughSaul,thekingoftheland, hadmade
him hi
senemyandhewasconst antl
ypersecuted, hedidnotlosehopei nthepromi sesofGod.
Yes,healway shadinPsalm 27:
13&14Dav idsay s:

Iremai
nconfi
dentoft
his:
Iwil
lseet
hegoodnessoftheLor
dint
hel
andoft
hel
i
ving.Wai
tfor
theLor
d;best
rongandtakehear
tandwai
tfortheLord.

Whatwecanl earnfrom David’spost urearetwot hings–remaini

ngconfidentinthepr omiseof
seeingthegoodnessofGodf ulf
il
ledinourl i
vesandgat heri
ngthest
rengthandendur anceto
waitont hosepr omisestobef ul
fil
ledi nt
hisli
fe.InMar k10:
29&30, Jesusencour ageshis
disci
ples,i
nlinewi t
ht hi
s,thatwhat evert
heyhav elostfol
lowingHi
m woul dber et
urnedt othem
mul t
ipl
et i
mesi nthislif
eti
me.Letusnotl ett
hej ourneywehav ewal
keddi scour
ageusoft he
hopet hatwehav ei
nt hepromi sesofGodf orourf utur
e.
I
not herti
mes, i
tisthefogthatbl
urswhatli
esaheadt hatl
eav esusuncer tainofourf uture.That
toomaydi mini
shourhopesi ncewecannotseewher ewear eheaded.Thi susual lyhappens
whent heenvir
onmentar oundusdoesnotseem tobeconduci v
ef orthefut ur
ewehopef or.
BeinginZimbabwe, Iunderst
andthi
swell.I
fyouaret oconsidertheindicatorst hatmayensur e
agoodf utur
efory ou,y
oumayseev eryl
i
ttl
eornothinginsightthatcouldi ndicatethat.That
hasleftmanyoft heyoungpeopledeject
edandtheirhopehaswaned.

Astor
m oraf ogont hesealast
sbutamoment .However,i
fyoudon'tsteadyy
ourshipinthat
moment ,
you'reboundtogetlostorshi
pwr ecked.Butyoucannotsteadyashipunlessyouhave
ananchor.Ouranchoristhehopethatwehav einGodtheFatherthroughChri
stJesus.Thi
s
hopeisexpressedinstat
ementssuchas_ "Idon'tknowwhatt hefut
ureholds,
butIknowwho
hol
dsthef ut
ure."
_andDav i
d’swordscapturedintheverseabove.Theyencourageusnotto
l
ookattheci r
cumstancesbuttothesource;tolooktotheonei nwhom ourhopeisanchored

Theyshowani nternalbeliefthathoweverli
femaygo, r
egardlessoftheuncert
aintyofthe
moment,Iknowt hatI '
l
lbeokaybecauseIknowwher eI'
veplacedmyhope.I '
veplacediti
nt he
onewhoplanst opr ospermeandnothar m me(Jer
emiah29: 11);
theonewhopr omi sest
obe
wit
hmet hrought hewat erandt hefi
re(Isai
ah43:2)
;theonewhoget smeoutoft hehorri
blepi
t,
set
smei nar ockandest abli
shesmypat h(
Psal
m 40:2);t
heonewhoassur esmet hatintheend
al
lthi
ngswillworkt ogetherforgood( Romans8:28).

Wecant r
ustthatgoodandgr eatert
hingsli
eaheadofus-notbecauseofhowt hingsseem to
begoingint
hemoment ,notbecauseofoureffor
tsalone,
notbecauseoft
heeconomi csorthe
gover
nmentbutbecauseofTheOnewebel iev
ein.TheOnewhodoesn'tchange.TheOnewho
keepsHispr
omi ses.TheOnewhonev erfai
l
s.TheOnewhol ovesusandwantst hebestforus.

Thatassur ancegi vesuspeaceinthemoment ;t

hatcal mnesst hatwillgiveusasoundmi nd
evenwhent hewor ldaroundusseemst obegoingcr azy.Itgivesuscour aget otakehear tand
facethechal lengesoft hemomentwi ththeassuredbel i
eft hatwewi l
lovercome.I tgivesust he
strengthtotaket henextstepforwar
dintothewonder fulfutureGodhasi nst oreforus.I tgiv
es
ushopef ort hef uture.I
fHeholdsthefutur
e,wear en'
tscar edofwhat everisinthef uture.
Whet herstormsorsunnyski esli
eaheadofus, i
fwecommi tourfuturestHi m andr estinHi s
presenceandpr ot ecti
on,weholdunyi
eldi
nglyt
othehopet hatitwil
l al
l workforourgoodi nthe
end.
Hav
eabl
essedSunday
!