Unknown Future
“I am fleeing! Save yourself!” he shouted. The wind ripped the words into the night, denying him comfort that they had found their target. “Flee yourself!” he shouted again.
Behind him was silence, and before him was darkness; and into this darkness he fled.
—By Ways Unseen, Chapter 6 – Blades
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105
“For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12
We can’t predict the future, as nice as that would be. And though God sometimes “makes known the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10), He does not always. Often times on our journey we feel like Haydren—we have fought our way through obstacles and enemies, perhaps with help from a friend or mentor. They are still behind, perhaps in a pitched battle. For us, though, there is only silence behind and darkness ahead. We have no clear directive on what to do or which direction to take, and we can’t even see the decisions ahead of us. And still, we must press on; to stay is to die.
For us, though, God has never abandoned us: “I will not leave you or forsake you,” Joshua 1:5, and Hebrews 13:5. In the absence of any specific direction, He has still given us His word—a lamp for our feet and a light for our path. We never do wrong who continue to obey His Word, doing what is right in each and every situation, even when the outcome seems unknown.
And yet, the outcome is known: “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” Genesis 4:7. “…anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him,” Hebrews 11:6. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well,” Matthew 6:33. “However, as it is written: ‘What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived’—the things God has prepared for those who love him…” 1 Corinthians 2:9. “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am,” John 14:3.
“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God,” Corrie Ten Boom. No matter how dark the way, how convoluted the path, how dangerous the obstacles, how intense the battle, how great the threats— “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul,” Matthew 10:28a. Instead, “hate what is evil; cling to what is good,” Romans 12:9, and “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus,” Philippians 1:6.
What else is there?