Hebrews 11 tells us that Moses did not fear Pharoah—he kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the invisible.

We need not panic as challenges loom ahead. When storms howl around us, or the enemy besieges our walls, our hope stands on our Father’s promises that He will not fail or abandon His children. He says, “I am here, and I am holding you.”

And when we need more reassurance of His presence, we can ask Him for eyes to see the invisible—that He is always there. None of God’s children travel alone.

I know you are always with me. I will not be shaken, for you are right beside me. I rejoice in that, and my heart is glad. (Psalm 16:8,9 AP)

Know this, as you step forward into the next hour, the next day, the next week: We stand in a place of privilege.   

“Because of our faith, Christ has brought us to a place of undeserved privilege where we now stand…” (Romans 5:2)

As God’s adopted children, rescued by Jesus from a kingdom of darkness to live in His kingdom of light, we’ve been given an inheritance. And the Father says we’re now in a place of great privilege; He says resources of heaven are available to us!

It’s not just “a lot of talk.” It is living out the inheritance and privilege given us by the One who holds us and our future in His hands.

As we stand with our toes on the edge of tomorrow and peer ahead, we read the headlines and feel ripples of anxiety washing into our souls. Sometimes those ripples swell into raging floods that knock us off our feet and threaten to drown us.

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled,” our King says to us. “Trust in God. Trust in me. I’ve given you my words so you can have peace.”

We might wonder how peace is possible in this turbulent world. But there it is, repeated so often in God’s Word to us: the promise that He can give us peace.

Every day, we make many choices about who and what we will believe and trust. And every time our choice is to believe and trust God what God says, we send our roots deeper and deeper into the life-giving water, the only Source of peace.

The prophet Daniel was given a clear look at the future, and what he saw terrified him. Made him physically sick, actually. Terrible times were ahead. Then, as he shrank back in dread of what was coming, a messenger came from God, saying, “Don’t be afraid. You are very precious to God.”

Don’t be afraid, child of God. Those words are for you, too. Jesus said them to all who believe in Him: “The Father loves you dearly” (John 16:27). Whatever is ahead, His love holds you through every step of your journey. You’re not alone, not just a pinpoint in the universe. You are precious to the One who holds the future.

God knew about this 17 years ago, when He began to stir things in my heart. He knew I was headed toward a major change in my life. He knew that the one book I intended to write would grow into four books, quite different than what I had planned. He knew why I was convinced to change my path of publishing the Hope books.

Three of the Hope Knows books were released in 2018 in rapid succession, within months of each other. But the fourth book—all about Christians’ hope for the future—well, that volume, I kept telling people, was still “in the future.”

I was disappointed that I couldn’t meet my deadline for the fourth book and by the subsequent news from the publisher that the book wouldn’t be released until 2020. Almost two years later than the first one! But God knew what “March madness 2020” was going to be, and He knew all about the frenzy of fear and fretting that would wash over our country.

He knew that I would need to go back and read the words I had written years earlier, would need to remind myself of hope we can hold onto as we peer into the future. As I wrote the words of Facing the Future, I never imagined what 2020 would bring to our lives.  

And that’s just it—we don’t have a clue what is coming tomorrow, next week, or next year. If we’ve learned anything in the last month, it is this: In spite of all our planning and our attempts to “secure” our future, we can’t.

Except—

Except, there is this: God says there are things we can know for certain about tomorrow. There are ways our future can be secure. God tells us about those sure things. In His kindness, He gives us unbreakable promises about what is ahead. Our hope knows and lives on those promises. These are things we can be sure of, no matter what happens in our world. How can we lay an unshakable foundation for our lives when the future is so uncertain? Only by building on what God says is the reality of tomorrow.

 Facing the Future will be released on April 28, 2020. It celebrates God’s future for all who belong to Jesus Christ, those who are God’s children.

For each of the next twelve days, I’ll pull a word of hope from one of the twelve chapters in the book. No long blogs, just a condensed droplet of good news to refresh your day… and your hope