‘But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’ (v26) John 14:23–27
Imagine if you were to drive your car with your eyes fixed on the rear-view mirror. It would be very dangerous for you and others.
Yet, many of us live our lives looking backwards, not forwards. We feel safe with what we know and have no real desire to discover the freedom of the unknown.
The familiar is comforting; the future uncertain. I recently heard a consultant surgeon describe his job as constantly living with the unforeseen.
A cancer specialist, he has the unenviable task of telling people if they have cancer. More challenging still, to some he can offer a measure of hope through a variety of interventions, but for others, it’s the devastating reality that there is no treatment available.
These realities profoundly shape our lives. Which is why for him God is to be found within the unforeseen, for unless we can find a basis of hope, our whole future disintegrates.
What’s more, we cannot retreat into the comfort of our familiar past. We are captured in the moment, surrounded by uncertainty.
Here we can only turn to God who inhabits the unforeseen, who alone can lead us forward through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. Now we may only focus on the road ahead, and lean entirely on God. Do we find sufficient comfort in God’s Word?
SCRIPTURE TO CONSIDER: Psa. 62; Jer. 17:5–10; John 15:1–17; Heb. 13:6–21.
AN ACTION TO TAKE: Are you able to find God in the unforeseen? God alone is our strength and our salvation (Psa. 62:2).
A PRAYER TO MAKE: ‘Lord, may I take some time gazing into the future, not to shape it but to entrust its shape to your care. Amen.’
Photo by Bryan Allison on Flickr
