Some people think it would be wonderful to see what will happen tomorrow and beyond. “Just show me what the stock market will do, and I’ll be rich.” “Show me what is coming for me so I can be prepared.” Think again.
If we were to see all the blessings and benefits waiting for us in God’s providence, we would waste today yearning for the future.
If we were to see all the trials, troubles and tribulations awaiting us, we’d live in dread of the future and miss or squander the opportunities of today.
But people still try horoscopes, fortune tellers, mediums, tea leaves, palm readers, Ouija Boards and psychics in an effort to move the curtain away that stands between the now and the then. I heard about one Psychic Hotline that went bankrupt. Wouldn’t you think they would have seen that coming?
God forbids all fortune telling. “When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so.” Deuteronomy 18:9-14 (NASB).
Gerald and Katie brought to us their rendition of a song that deals with our limitation. It points out what we don’t know and what we can know. Let’s think about our knowledge or lack thereof.
There are times we ask, “What if ...?” and get all shook up. “What if Covid flares up?” What if the economy crashes?” At other times we make plans as though they were certainties, with no “If” about it.
But listen to James: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:13-17 (NASB). In light of that, I ask “Who knows?”
I. EVERY ONE OF US MUST ADMIT: “THERE ARE THINGS I DON’T KNOW!”
A. James said, “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.” The song also stated our human lack of knowledge, saying,
“I don’t know about tomorrow
It may bring me poverty;
But the one who feeds the sparrow
Is the one who stands by me.
And the path that be portion
May be through the flame or flood.
But His presence goes before me
And I’m covered with His blood.”
B. The fantasy is that we can gain a glimpse at tomorrow through some hokey fortune teller, but the reality is they are no help. They don’t know either.
1. We don’t know the events, the exigencies or the extent of life.
2. We don’t know what our financial status will be. We may be flush or be flushed; we may be rich or poor; we may be prosperous or paupers. But Paul wrote, “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19 (NASB).
3. We don’t know how our unforseen needs may be met. But Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?” Matthew 6:26 (NASB).
4. We don’t know what our health will be, but even if it goes south, it is true, “though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NASB).
5. We don’t know where our path will take us, but we can say with David, “He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:3-4 (NASB).
C. We need to ditch the “What if’s,” and trust the Lord. Here’s Lucy and Linus:
D. Much we don’t know, but we know Jesus and He will carry us through, so:
“I don’t worry o’er the future
For I know what Jesus said
And today I’ll walk beside Him
For He knows what is ahead
Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow,
And I know who holds my hand.”
We don’t know about tomorrow but we can know and believe God’s promises, presence and power. And while there is much we do not know,
II. EVERY ONE OF US CAN AFFIRM, “THERE ARE THINGS I DO KNOW!”
A. We know that we ought to relinquish boastful self-determination and we know we need to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” We know that He alone knows the future and has a will for us in that future as the song said,
“Many things about tomorrow
I don’t seem to understand
But I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.”
B. There are certainties that are perceived and known only by believers:
1. We know Him Whom we have believed and that He will keep what we have given Him until we enter Heaven.
2. We know the peace that passes understanding when we let Him know our fears, anxieties and needs.
3. We know that God has the skill, wisdom and power to weave all circumstances – good or bad – and to make them work for our good, if we love Him and are called according to His purpose.
4. We know that if the earthly tent which is our house, or our body, is torn down, “we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” 2 Corinthians 5:1 (NASB).
5. We know the Love, Grace, Mercy, Hope, Peace, Promise, Power, and Presence of Jesus in our lives.
C. We know Jesus and His words, way and will through the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
1. As we know Jesus, we get to know God because “Jesus said, ‘He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, “Show us the Father”?’” John 14:9 (NASB).
2. But it is one thing to say, “I know God!” and another thing to really know Him. John wrote, “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;” 1 John 2:3-4 (NASB)
D. There was a man who always bragged about knowing Abraham Lincoln. He did know a lot about Abe, and talked about the President as though they were close friends. Turns out though that when Lincoln made a visit to that man’s town, every friend he had pressed for an introduction and the man finally admitted that the only contact he had with Abe was to shake his hand a few years ago.
There are things we do not know and things we do know and,
III. EVERY ONE OF US NEEDS TO ASK, “WHAT ARE THINGS I NEED TO KNOW?”
A. James wrote, “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.’ But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” we need to know
1. That life is brief and transitory here on earth, we are a vapor.
a. We ought to make the most of our brief time.
b. Focus less on what not to do and more on what is right to do.
c. It is not enough to just avoid wrongdoing. We need to do what is right.
d. So, do all the good you can to all the people you can, in every place you can, in every way you can, every time you can, a long as you can.
2. That not we, but the Lord is in charge.
3. The Lord’s will.
4. That being boastfully self reliant is sin.
B. So, as the song said,
“I know who holds tomorrow
And I know who holds my hand.”
C. What we really need to know for unflurried, unworried, unhurried life is that God is God, and that we are in His hands and tomorrow is in His control. If we know that He is in charge of all our tomorrows:
1. We can believe that the future is as bright as the promises of God.
2. We can let go of the wheel and let Jesus drive.
3. We can take the next step of faith knowing He is here.
4. We can rejoice that nothing can happen that will separate us from His love.
5. We can trust that we go not only into the fiery furnace of trials and tribulations but through them.
6. We can expect that tomorrow is not will not be just a black hole but an open door to life.
D. An interesting map is on display in the British Museum in London. It’s an old mariner’s chart, drawn in 1525, outlining the North American coastline and adjacent waters. The cartographer made some intriguing notations on areas of the map that represented regions not yet explored. He wrote: “Here be giants,” “Here be fiery scorpions,” and “Here be dragons.” Eventually, the map came into the possession of Sir John Franklin, a British explorer in the early 1800s. Scratching out the fearful inscriptions, he wrote these words across the map: “Here is God.”
Because God is here, we can look forward to whatever comes with assurance that He is also there.
“God has not promised skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways all our lives through;
God has not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.
God has not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He has not told us we shall not bear
many a burden, many a care.
God has not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep
But God has promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.”
Annie Johnson Flint
Whatever we know or don’t know, we can know that “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (NASB). God says, “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 (NASB).
Do you know that? It’s all the assuance we need if we believe. Do you know Jesus? Do you know that He’s all you need for help and guidance. Trust Him and let Him have your todays and tomorrows and He will give you His eternity.
