An Expected End

As I was working on the twelfth floor of the new dorm on UCSD, I had an inclination to look toward the north.  Because of where I was in the building, I could see south easily but the north only had a small window.  "What's the point of looking north," I asked the LORD, "when I can hardly see anything?"  It struck me that looking towards the north is like trying to see my future.  Looking south is like looking at my past, a panoramic view of the ocean and La Jolla spread from a high vantage point.  Yet looking north all I could see was a big concrete wall with a small square window.  A wide, wild future lays in front of me but I only have a tiny window through which to see.  My future is there sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, but it will always be elusive.  It will always be ahead of the present.

Needless to say, the way we see and the way God sees are very different from each other!  I am reminded of God's words in Jeremiah 29:11:  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."  God sees our complete lives stretched out before Him.  As Corrie ten Boom was fond of saying during her time on earth, "God sees the front side of the embroidery."  We see the back of the embroidery.  From our vantage point there is no picture to speak of, just random colors stitched across each other with tons of strings hanging down.  This verse in the KJV reads, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."  Our future is uncertain and unclear to us, but to God it will be as He expects.  He is not caught off guard, confused, or surprised.

At this point last year, I would not have thought my family would be living in my parent's home, our house for sale, and I would be working in construction to save towards an international move to Australia.  Right now the actual move to Australia seems far off in the distance, obscured by walls to thick to break through and too tall to climb.  Yet I find myself looking through that little window, excited about the prospects of a future ordained by God.  Isn't it wonderful to know God has good thoughts toward us?  As a Christian I have a future worth hoping for!  For us who are born again, the end of our lives on earth is not the end of life:  it is the beginning of eternal life!  What a future awaits us on earth and in heaven thanks to our Father!  May I do my part to embrace that future God has in store!