Jeremy L. Berg

This is an older post that fits this time of year when people are contemplating their plans for the new year. Grace and peace.  -JB

“Where do you plan to be three to five years from now?”

I have been asked this question two or three times in the past couple weeks. For some reason that question just drives me crazy. It didn’t take long however to realize why the question bothers me so much. You see I don’t really know where I’ll be, or exactly what I’ll be doing. And I felt bad. I felt irresponsible. I felt like there must be something wrong with me.

Worse yet, I was tempted to blame this uncertainty on a lack of faith, or on being out of touch with God’s calling on my life. I thought, “If I was listening more carefully to God, then He would have revealed my future path to me.” Then I remembered what God’s Word actually says about charting out our long-term future plans.

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow” (Mat 6:34 MSG).

Now listen to me, you that say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money.” You don’t even know what your life tomorrow will be! You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears. What you should say is this: “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15).

People may plan all kinds of things, but the LORD’s will is going to be done” (Prov 19:21).

After reflecting a bit on a these passages, I am more convinced that I am right where God wants me—secure in the divine now of God’s presence, and walking securely into the unknown, living by radical faith rather than human insight.

Here’s three additional thoughts on this matter:

1. First, Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about the future, and that it is those who don’t know God who should be the ones running around anxiously trying to secure their own future. Revolutionary followers of Jesus know that the future is only as secure as our grip on God’s grace and provisions is tight. Hold on tight to God, and your future—no matter how risk-filled—will be ultimately secure.

2. Second, James has some strong words for those who presume to know exactly where they will be and exactly what they will be doing in a year. Instead, revolutionary followers of Jesus should preoccupy our time with centering their entire selves in God and pursuing His Kingdom purposes here and now in the present. When we anchor our desires and passions in God’s purposes, he will certainly open doors for us along the way.

3. Third, let’s be honest: How many people actually know what they are going to do with their life by age 22 and actually stay the same course until retirement? Proverbs 19:21 reminds us of the obvious: While we often think we know exactly which path we are on and where its going to take us, we are often met with unexpected road blocks and strange detours along the way. Reassuringly, God has a strange way of using those detours to lead down an even better path than we had originally intended. The revolutionary follower of Jesus slowly lets go of the controls and gradually begins to listen to God’s voice amidst the uncertainty.

And what is uncertainty anyway? We human beings try to find certainty by gaining control over our life circumstances and direction. Yet, this very drive for control is the very thing that leads us away from the only true source of certainty—God. Paradoxically, it is only by letting go of the controls that we begin to experience the joy, comfort and lasting assurance known as faith.  “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. ²This is what the ancients were commended for” (Heb. 11:1).

So, where am I going to be and what am I going to be doing in three to five years from now? God-willing, I will be seeking God’s Kingdom purposes in the here-and-now, trusting God for the future, and living more and more “out of control” and walking more and more by faith.

Perhaps our problem is that we are often more focused on WHAT the crystal ball reveals than WHO is holding the crystal ball of our life.