Where Do I Go From Here? Foundations

It was very good for me to review the trek we’ve got to this point so far.  Like Moses in Deuteronomy when you’ve been going a way it is good to recall where you’re coming from because in that you get some clarity in what to beware of and what to embrace as you go forward.

Of course that issue of going forward then becomes the next issue and right here people can get nervous especially by those with expansive broad plans and visions for up ahead.  Some people would just be grateful to make it through the next hour, let alone try and get a handle on what might happen tomorrow, next week or next year.  When you follow someone who has these broad ideas then you’re also taking a risk of sorts and potentially leaving yourself up for disappointment if it does not work out.

So what do we do, just stay in the present and not consider anything about where we’re going.  A verse that might seem to support that is the one where Jesus says not to get anxious about what will happen tomorrow and look for today as tomorrow has enough worries for itself.  This is a misreading of the verse, though.  This by no means rules out future planning, it just rules out anxiety for that which you have no control over.  Not knowing whether you’ll be alive or not tomorrow means you don’t have to worry about those issues and enjoy the present.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”– yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (Jas 4:13-15)

There is enough to suggest as James states that where the problem comes in is where we are presumptuous about what we will do with no reference and deference to the sovereignty of the omniscient God.

With due deference given, then, there is an understanding that we maybe so bold as to say under those conditions in the case of life being granted to us again we may very well conduct some activities.  That should excite us and humble us at the same time.  Excite us in knowing that it’s not aimless and purposeless living.  Humble us in that we are not the masters of our own destiny and should we choose to go astray from where the Lord wants us to go the consequences can be dire.

With that in mind the next two blog entries will look closer at where I believe I’ll be going from here, so if it’s the Lord’s will and we live, check out what more will be coming up for DMCD.

For His Name’s Sake

Shalom

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