A Hope and a Future
by Michael Nault
Well here we go again. It is that time of year when many of us think about the year ahead. The future is filled with promise and possibility. There is nothing that can stop us or hold us back. We make our resolutions, set our goals and feel optimistic about attaining them. Our yes is yes and our no is no! We have made up our minds as we step into the future one day at a time. And so our journey begins anew!
Unfortunately only a few of us march on to realize our goals and resolutions. Many of us quickly find that reality can be a cruel thing. The firm resolve, that was so evident just days or weeks before, slowly dissolves into a mere “I wish I could change.” Why can’t I stick with it? Soon disappointment comes knocking at the door. Guilt is not too far behind. And before long “we throw in the towel” and become disillusioned with the entire plan and with ourselves. Optimism evolves into resignation!
What a predicament we are in? We feel stuck! We settle!
A few nights ago, the Holy Spirit woke me in the night. On many nights, I usually wake up immediately after having a dream so I take some time to meditate upon it or get my laptop out to write it down. And sometimes I simply fall back to sleep. But on this night, I had no dream that I was aware of so I asked the Holy Spirit what He was trying to reveal to me. Instantly, He put a person’s name upon my heart and I began to pray.
As I prayed, the Lord showed me the pain he was in and the condition he was in. His loneliness, lack of joy and hopelessness was seemingly without end. Then the Holy Spirit showed me how this person believes his future is a fait accompli, a done deal. I saw an image of his future. It was encased in stone, like a tomb. The cast had been set. The path that he was on was the path he was on and that nothing could change it. I wonder how many of us feel the same way deep down inside?
Soon another image followed. Jesus as the stonebreaker! He smashed open the encasement of stone, the tomb. Light breaks in. Hope begins to glimmer within us. What? I don’t have to stay this way forever? Jesus sets us free!Ezekiel (11:19) tells us that God puts a new spirit within us. And that He takes out the heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. Stone is rigid, impermeable, hard and unyielding. Flesh is soft, flexible, with feeling and can grow.
The truth is I have felt this same way about my future for many years of my life. Wallowing around day after day, week after week and year after year and before you know it, the years have gone by. We are meant for growth and for change. When this is stifled, life becomes lifeless. The energy is gone. Our imagination becomes dull. Life loses its luster.
Our lives and our futures are not encased in stone. Who we are today does not have to be who we were yesterday. And who we will be tomorrow does not have to be who we are today. Because of Christ, we are no longer victims of heredity, environment, mind or fallen nature. We are no longer slaves to sin, to the enemy and our fallen nature.
We are a free people with a heart of flesh. We have a bright future, full of hope, expectation and life abundant, new creatures in Christ Jesus our stonebreaker.
Thank you Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)
So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. (John 8:36)
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth… (John 16:13)