You've heard the phrase "If you told me I would be doing _____ five years ago...I wouldn't have believed you!". I'm sure you could fill in the blank with many things such as..."met the person I was going to marry"...or "working in this job"...or "living in this country". For me personally...I would have never guessed I would be married and living in a foreign country. I certainly wouldn't be able to predict that I would have been living with an incurable illness...that one still continues to shock me, but with the grace of God, I am learning to live with it.
When you think about the future it can do one of two things. It can excite you or it can scare you. When you get into the thicket of life, when electronics tend to break, marriages go through struggles, children get sick, or even your own securities of a home and finances are stripped away you can tend to want to turn back. But for those of us who know Christ Jesus as our Lord, we must continue on the road He has paved for us...always trusting in Him, despite our circumstances. It is a CHOICE to BELIEVE that God has a good plan. Now that does not mean a bed of roses all the time, but it will still be good because He is good and He has a purpose for us (Romans 8:28).
I can so feel Peter's heartfelt words when he is asked if he too would walk away from Jesus. Can't you just imagine big ole Peter with tears welling up in his eyes saying...
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words (the message) of eternal life. And we have learned to believe and trust, and [more] we have come to know [surely] that You are the Holy One of God, the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of the living God." (Read below John 6:66-69 (Amplified Bible)
When we are going through struggles in our life...are we going to turn back and go our own way or are we going to continue on BELIEVING...that God has a good plan for us...TRUSTING...that even though we can't see where we are going...He is guiding?
I personally can learn a lot from this scripture and it is a great reminder that I've come too far to turn back now! I am trusting in Him to take me the rest of the way...and in 5 years from now...I pray that I will say "Father if you told me that I would be doing _______ I DID believe that!
After this, many of His disciples drew back (returned to their old associations) and no longer accompanied Him. Jesus said to the Twelve, Will you also go away? [And do you too desire to leave Me? Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words (the message) of eternal life. And we have learned to believe and trust, and [more] we have come to know [surely] that You are the Holy One of God, the Christ (the Anointed One), the Son of the living God. -John 6:66-69 (Amplified Bible)
