Future Hope, Present Reality
If you’re anything like me, these past few months have felt like a long plane ride. I wish I had a little more legroom and that the guy sleeping next to me would’ve leaned the other direction before he started snoring. My phone is dead and the in-flight movie is terrible. The little AC nozzle is doing nothing except making me long for some fresh air. At a certain point, even the novelty of hurtling through the sky at 500 MPH starts to seem dull. Eventually, the only thing I can think about are the wheels touching down on the tarmac, grabbing my bag from the overhead compartment, and finally, mercifully, stepping off the plane and onto firm soil once more.
The intercom crackles to life and the captain’s voice says, “Folks, there’s a little weather ahead and we can’t land just yet. We’re going to go into a holding pattern and hope it clears up soon.” There’s a collective groan from everyone on the plane. Now, not only are we crammed into a little metal tube like sardines, but we are literally going in circles.
As this season of COVID-19 restrictions continues to drag on, maybe you can relate to the question, “Are we there yet?”
At the end of the day, we’re all waiting for something…
Maybe you’re waiting for things to get back to “normal,” for your kids to get back to school, for your insurance to approve that treatment, or for a potential spouse to enter your life.
Maybe you’re just waiting for heaven. Is it wrong to look forward to the future? Not hardly! In fact, if you are struggling with your present reality and looking ahead to the future, you’re in good company.
Hebrews 12:2 (NLT) tells us, “Because of the joy awaiting him, (Jesus) endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”
And not only Jesus, but in fact, “all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.”
Romans 8:19 (NLT)
Later in Romans 8, Paul draws a direct parallel between creation and people like you and me, “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.”
Romans 8:22-23 (NLT)
There is something holy in this expectation. The sense that something is not quite right but that there is something better ahead is a God-given sense. In the words of the great church father Augustine,
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”
The world is not as it should be, and the longing for heaven is in fact a desire for the world as it ought to be. The world is broken. The world is waiting, groaning, for things to be put right! And we groan along with it.
We know one day, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
Revelation 21:4 (NLT)
But how does this hope for tomorrow help us today? 1 Peter 1:3-7 (CSB) offers some guidance.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”
This is the future we can hope for! And in the meantime,
“You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith—more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
We are not passengers on a flight wiling away the hours with tiny bags of peanuts, cans of ginger ale, or bad movies on a grubby little screen.
The trials of our present time are, regardless of their nature, meant to refine our character and result in praise, glory, and honor to God.
Whether it is the furnace of a sudden, fiery trial or the slow endurance of a stone being worn smooth by the flow of water, our endurance in trials is preparing us to receive the joys of heaven. God wastes nothing. And whatever you are waiting for, be assured that God is at work.
Joni Eareckson Tada puts it this way in her book Heaven, Your Real Home.
“When Christians realize that their citizenship is in heaven, they begin acting as responsible citizens of earth… All this serves the pilgrim well, not only in heaven, but on earth; for it serves everyone around them.”
She is echoing the words of 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NLT),
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say.”
The hope we have in tomorrow enables us to be people of service today.
We are not on a long-haul flight or stuck in a holding pattern. We are not simply waiting for the next thing to happen. The patient endurance we are called to now is refining us and preparing us for something greater.
Who needs to hear that from you today?
Written By—Ryan Faulk
Ryan Faulk works for Joni and Friends to equip churches across the country to evangelize and disciple people with disabilities. He is passionate about seeing churches reflect the heart of Christ for all people. He and his wife live in Southern California.
Do You Have Questions?
Contact us at [email protected] or call (818) 707-5664. We’re here for you. Your ministry’s success is our highest priority!
