Fearing the Future
By Cate
Fear: a distressing emotion aroused by impending danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is real or imagined; the feeling or condition of being afraid.
I have many fears. There are the typical fears about school in general, my grades, peer-pressure, the future, and even my relationships with friends. Then, there are the fears that are not very explainable. Out of these are fears of needles, the dark, and the future. Is fearing the future both typical and unexplainable? Does everyone else fear the future also?
As a high school teenager we have a lot to think about in our futures. We are always preparing for what we want to excel in after our high school education. And we are also preparing for what will be coming our way. Whether it is fearing how we are going to make it through the rest of our high school careers, where we are going to college, where our jobs will take us after college, or even the families of our own we will have someday. Anything could happen throughout the rest of our lives. It is not a bad thing to admit that you are scared.
We do not know what is coming our way, no one does. But, we can be ready for it. Only through Jesus can we truly be prepared. In Jeremiah 22:16 God says, “He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me? …” Because we know God, we believe that we have nothing coming our way that we cannot handle. We always have God working with us. What does it mean when God says “know me”? This is not just talking about how we need to know God’s commands and it is more than just intellectual knowledge. This passage is talking more about how we need to have a personal relationship with God. This is also our obedience to his commands.
We may not all have the happiest and most easy-going futures in store for us. We surely will have to struggle and fight. But, if all of our trust is kept in God, it will be easier. He knows what is in store for us. God has had our futures planned out since before we were conceived. All we need to do is hand all our current fears and our future fears over to God’s hands. We can’t do anything to change what is in store. All we can do about it is pray and believe.
In Proverbs 19:21 the Lord says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” No matter what we want to happen in the future, God is in control. He may decide that it is unnecessary. We can make all the plans that we would like, but in the end God is in control of the path we are traveling on.
It is not that we should really fear the future. There is nothing to be afraid of. We know that we have nothing to be afraid of and everything will work out according to God’s plan. And in the end, we will be in everlasting joy in heaven.
We have family that will always be there to help us through. We have friends that are teaching us lessons that perhaps no one else could ever teach us. Most of all, we have God. A strong, loving God who will always be there for us no matter what happens or what mistakes we make.
With God we can be prepared for the unknown.