Look Forward

A friend of mine sent an email with the following statistics:

  ·       83% of voters fear there will be a large-scale terrorist attack in the U.S. in the near future.

  ·       60% think it’s likely that terrorists are living in their hometown.    

  ·       59% believe the economy is doing poorly.

  ·       69% of Americans think the nation is on the wrong track.

  ·       47% say that their family is scraping by, making only enough to pay bills and obligations.

  ·       56% believe most children in the U.S. will grow up to be worse off than their parents.

I find these numbers staggering.  I have no idea if they are validated or not.  However, I can say that I believe they are at least lending themselves to what I would answer.  It is so very difficult to stay positive with the total negativity of the entertainment (today’s news) industry. 

Of these statistics, it is the last on that hurts the most.  This means that the current generation believes their children will not live as well as they do.  If this holds true, this would be the single biggest turning point in America since WWII since America would no longer be that entity where a person can do better.  As best as I can tell, every generation has lived somewhat better than the one before. 

I will take this last point to task for a moment.  Economically I’m not sure it’s feasible that the next generation can be worse off unless they do absolutely nothing.  The Baby Boomer generation is passing and that represents a large population handing off their assetts to a much smaller generation and the generation behind them is even smaller.  This means there are assets being held by less and less people as time goes forward.  That means that the people in the generation with less people overall have more assets than the ones before.  Without a civil or other kind of horrendous domestic war, I don’t see how any working person in the next generation doesn’t live a little better than this one.

Either way, none of this has anything to do with anything spiritual that should be contained in a devotion, except it is not Godly to focus on negativity as it reduces God to not being God.  If we focus on what has happened and a negative outlook for tomorrow, we are saying God can't change anything.  I believe this is a lack of faith and sinful.  In Lamentations, the writer said “the faithful love of God never ends, His mercies never cease.”  We are not to focus on anything outside of who God is.  We must know that He will be with us forever.  He has our best interest in mind.  He will not forsake us.

I focus on this one thing forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. - Philippians 3:13

We, the ones with the Spirit of the living Lord in our hearts, must not be negative and have a terrible outlook towards tomorrow.  Our future is certain.  God has our home made for us and there will come a day when we will be with Him.  How can we not look forward to that?  How can what happened years ago, last month, or even yesterday compare to such a future!  It doesn’t, and neither does today.  So let’s join Paul and forget the past and look forward to that great day when we are able to dwell with the one true living God whose immense love for us is incomprehensible!