How can you possibly have peace with your future when there is so much turmoil in your past and maybe even in your present? And when the future is completely uncertain to you?
Here’s how!
When you know these things, you can have peace with your past, present, and even your future:
- God is love. (1 John 4:8)
- God is good. His every motive toward you is kind and for your benefit. (Ps. 34:8)
- God is sovereign and we each have the responsibility to choose salvation and to obey Him. (Prov. 16:9, Joshua 24:15, 1 Tim. 6:15, )
- God is omnipresent and omniscient. ( Psalm 137:8-12 and 1 John 3:20)
- God’s Word, the Bible, is true. (John 17:17)
- God’s promises are sure.(2 Cor. 1:20)
- God promises all things to work together for your good and His glory so that He can conform you to the image of Christ. (Rom. 8:28-29)
When you know who God is, you build your life on His Word, and you know who you are in Christ—His perfect love casts out all your fear. (1 John 4:18)
You don’t have to be afraid as you see the world in an ever-increasing mess because you know that God is in charge and things are happening exactly like He promised they would. So you can simply seek to trust God and be about His business of loving Him and loving others and sharing His amazing gospel.
- You don’t have to be afraid of your present. God will be with you every moment and will never leave you or forsake you.
- You don’t have to be alarmed of your future. God will direct your steps because He loves you no matter what happens with any human relationship.
- You don’t have to be stuck in your past. God can heal every wound and restore your soul. He can even “restore the years the locusts have eaten,” meaning, He can bring beauty even from terrible circumstances.
- You know that no matter what happens, He’ll transform it into good for you—and probably, for many other people, as well.
- You know He’ll bless many others through the beauty He brings from your pain.
- You know He’ll use any pain you experience to help you grow in Christlikeness and love.
You are free!
Free from guilt and shame! Free from death! Free from condemnation! Free from the enemy and His lies!
Now you can simply wait with eager anticipation to see all the good things God will bring into your life from the painful, difficult times you experience.
Look Past This Life—It Is Just a Mist
Look forward to eternity! You know that you will get to live with Jesus in heaven forever because He has promised you eternal life if you received His gift of salvation by grace.
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
John 14:1-3
Jesus spoke these words to the disciples in the upper room just hours before He was crucified. They all understood that these were the traditional words of a Jewish wedding proposal that a groom would say to his bride.
Jesus, our heavenly Bride Groom, will come to get us just like a Jewish bridegroom would. We will either go to meet him at our death or we will be caught up in the rapture to meet him in the clouds.
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Rev. 21:1-5
Then we will get our happily-ever-after with Jesus and all true followers of Christ in heaven forever! We all have the most incredible “love life” waiting for us in heaven. Perfect love and connection with Jesus. Perfect love and connection with each other. It will be beyond anything we can fathom!
Let’s pray that we might each be ready to meet Him at any moment and let’s anticipate all the amazing things He has in store for us here in this life to help us grow and be fruitful in Him. Let’s also praise and thank Him for the eternal life that He has lovingly prepared for those who have received Him!
The 4-Step Peace Plan
This plan is a simple pathway to show you how you can enter into the heroic life God has for you and experience real peace with God, with others (as far as it depends on you), and with yourself.
- Look upward— Yield your life completely to the Lordship of Jesus.
- Look inward—Die to your old sinful nature and put on your new nature in Christ.
- Look outward—Receive Jesus’ eyes and heart for others to love them with His divine love.
- Look forward—Watch Jesus turn your pain, trials, and difficult relationships into beauty for your ultimate good, a blessing for others, and His greatest glory. And look forward most of all to eternity in heaven with Him and everyone who loves Him forever!
Hi April—-This is an excellent post with so much wisdom attached to it. God indeed forgives us as believers, is with us always and has promised to prepare a place for us with Him in the future. It is also very insightful on your part that you mentioned that even our painful experiences can be used for God’s glory and for others to come to know Jesus. I have found this to be SO true in my own life. I truly wish more believers could understand this truth—–if we could understand these truths, we would be able to go through our struggles without complaining, but rejoicing in knowing that God is up to something BIG…..even when we’re hurting. I KNOW this to be true in my own life from my own experiences. Thank you so much for reminding us of these truths. God bless you always, my very special sister in Christ…….Larry
Larry Lauer,
Thank you so much for sharing your insights. What a blessing that God uses all things ultimately for our good and His glory! Then we don’t have to be afraid. This is how we can actually have joy even in difficult times.
We all have more to learn about these precious truths. May God help us to grasp more of the treasures here!
In Christ,
April
Love this! Thank you for the encouragement and speaking truth April.
Stephanie,
I’m so glad it was a blessing.
Much love!