Yes We Have A Future

"Yes, You Do Have a Future"

Isaiah 40:26-31 Romans 8:18-28

(Isaiah 40:26-31 NRSV) " Lift up your eyes on high and see: Who created

these? He who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by

name; because he is great in strength, mighty in power, not one is missing.

{27} Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from

the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God"? {28} Have you not known?

Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends

of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is

unsearchable. {29} He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the

powerless. {30} Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall

exhausted; {31} but those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength,

they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,

they shall walk and not faint."

(Romans 8:18-28 NRSV) " I consider that the sufferings of this present time

are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. {19} For

the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of

God; {20} for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will

but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope {21} that the creation

itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the

freedom of the glory of the children of God. {22} We know that the whole

creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; {23} and not only the

creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan

inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. {24} For

in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for

what is seen? {25} But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it

with patience. {26} Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do

not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs

too deep for words. {27} And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the

mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according

to the will of God. {28} We know that all things work together for good for

those who love God, who are called according to his purpose."

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When I worked in the corporate world,

my compensation was based entirely upon my quarterly numbers.

And beyond that,

there was little pay-off for looking beyond those 3 months.

Upper management, the board of directors and the stockholders

were all focused on quarterly profitability reports,

with very little patience to wait for longer term growth.

It was today’s stock price that mattered,

and what happened far in the future really wasn’t much of a concern.

The corp. officers had an impatient emphasis on immediate returns

which is really pretty much the way of our modern world.

Once upon a time long ago,

you had to turn on the TV set well before your show started

so there would be time enough for the tubes to warm up.

I see people today pacing impatiently, even a little upset

that the microwave popcorn is taking so long.

Or do you ever tap your fingers impatiently

waiting for your computer,

and frustrated over all those wasted milliseconds?

Culturally we’ve come to expect and demand instantaneous results,

for things to finish quickly - complete in the immediate,

and a rushing impatience characterizes our mode of living.

That pernicious impatience seems to pervade our whole lives

placing our focus on the now, the urgent and immediate;

and so we are unwilling and unaccustomed to waiting

for things to fully develop or to consider the longer view.

The problem with that impatient emphasis on the immediate present

is that such a perspective is far too small and limited,

leaving too little room for life to change and get better-

it fails to recognize that God is still very much at work

and that the process of creation continues in our lives & in the

world

its really a matter of perspective

If you close one eye, hold out your thumb and move it back,

see how your thumb can cover up much larger objects than itself.

That is the power of perspective ----

that because your thumb is so much closer and immediate,

it appears bigger than larger things in the far distance.

its really a matter of perspective

We tend to focus on the here and now, our immediate concerns,

letting them overwhelm and dominate,