The Best Is Yet To Come

The Best Is Yet To Come

Introduction

Well, Caitlyn, here we are. It is May 21, 2023. I have recently begun thinking about the space race and the moon landing and wanting to read about it and understand it. On the evening of May 21, 1969, the crew of Apollo 10 went to sleep. Theirs was the mission that got closest to the moon before the Apollo 11 mission and the lunar landing. On the morning of May 22, 1969, they expected to wake up to a wake-up call. Perhaps something like the US Marine anthem or something else, but on this morning there was a song played that they did not expect. It was a song recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1964. Perhaps those in the Houston control center were thinking about how far they had come and how close they were to what they had set out to do. So that morning the ears of the astronauts so close to the surface of the moon heard the words:

Out of the tree of life I just picked me a plumYou came along and everything started to hum Still, it's a real good bet, the best is yet to come Best is yet to come and babe, won't that be fine? You think you've seen the sun, but you ain't seen it shine...

The best is yet to come!

The LORD, through the prophet Isaiah said something to this effect. Isaiah 43 reads:

But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.3 For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.4 Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you...

8 Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears.9 Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, “It is truth.”10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.11 I, even I, am the Lord, And besides Me there is no savior.12 I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses,” Says the Lord, “that I am God.13 Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?”...

16 Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters,17 Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power(They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):18 “Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.19 Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.20 The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen.21 This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.

The LORD is saying to Isaiah's hearers that they have come a long way and God has done some amazing thing in the past to get them to where they are, but they should trust Him for the rest of the journey and anticipate the reality that He is a God Who does new things and who will often surprise us along the way. The Best is yet to come.

The life-journey of the Christian is not compartmentalized where spirituality is something that fits into a Sunday morning box or a checklist of spiritual practices that are done once a day. Every aspect of the Christian's life is sacred. Education, work, recreation... Paul said, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31). There is no sacred/secular divide. Our daily work is a calling into which we live. We should remember this: