Hope From The Future

Dear Family and Friends,

We had dinner with some friends the other night. There were lots of laughs and funny stories, until the mood momentarily turned somber. Why?

Because the conversation had drifted to Maui. It was clear that we were all struggling with sadness, a phase in the grieving process.

How about you? Are you struggling to shake off feelings of grief? If you are, you’re not alone. An entire state is grieving with you.

In times like these, when death surrounds us, we who believe in Jesus usually look for comfort in scriptures of hope – – like Roman’s 8:18 ESV.

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

What is hope? Hope is looking forward with confidence to that which is good and beneficial.

Have you noticed that when reading scriptures like Roman 8:18 our hope rests on the day Jesus returns and firmly establishes the kingdom of God here on earth.

We say to ourselves, ‘I can hardly wait for the day this mess of a world is restored.’

But did you know that besides having hope for the future, we can also have hope from the future?

What is hope from the future?

When Jesus came, He inaugurated the kingdom of God, but not in its full and final glory.

“Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”  Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The kingdom of God is here – now! It’s in our midst, and according to certain other translations of verse 21, it is within us. 

Hope from the future is hope that we will be transformed into the likeness of Jesus.

Hope from the future is hope that one day we will be:

• Free from all fear of death.
• Free from the passion to chase after idols.
• Free from needing the affirmations of others, craving to be liked, wanted, respected, believed in…
• Free from the fruitless chase of happiness.
• Free from the stress and anxiety of the world.

Hope from the future is hope that one day we will:

• Realize that our identity is in Christ.
• Focus our life on God’s will for us.
• Discern what’s true with the wisdom, knowledge and understanding that comes from God.
• Experience the joy of the Lord.
• Have peace that surpasses all understanding.
• Love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls and minds and our neighbors as ourselves. 

These and so much more are ours to hope for and grasp today. 

Allow me to close with the rest of my Maui conversation story. Perhaps it will help us understand why our personal transformation is so important to the kingdom of God.  

It didn’t take long for our friends to turn to Aileen and me when someone asked about helping the survivors through their emotional trauma. (It seems people somehow know that Christians are well prepared to help others in times like these.)

We shared from our experience of ministering to the Japan tsunami survivors, which meant our friends who are not yet Christians learned a little bit more about the loving ways of Jesus.

My friends, we never know when we will be called upon to share the love of Jesus with someone. Let’s be ready.

In love always,