Often, we are drawn to anyone or anything that promises to tell us what comes next.
Just think of election season. Candidates promise they know what needs to happen next, and that they'll be the ones to make it happen. Besides that, we check forecasts, scroll through headlines, follow experts, and replay conversations in our minds, hoping someone can calm our fears surrounding the question: What's going to happen?
That's the tension behind God's challenge in Isaiah 41 when God speaks to the idols that people trusted. The Lord says, "Tell us what is to happen," and "declare to us the things to come." Of course, it's a challenge they cannot answer. Their promises are empty because they cannot see or shape what's next. They are nothing.
And yet, not much has changed.
Our idols may not be carved from wood or stone, but they still make oversized promises. You probably recognize them, even if you've never called them idols. Think about how success promises security. Money promises happiness and peace. Politics promises salvation. Even our own anxiety acts like a fear prophet, constantly telling us worst-case scenarios and convincing us there's nothing we can do about them.
There are very few things I'm certain of about tomorrow. But our faith calls us to be confident in the One who already knows tomorrow. The old hymn says it well: I know he holds the future.
And so, Christian hope rests on knowing God's character, not on knowing everything.
Maybe that's why Jesus told his followers, "Do not worry." He wasn't dismissing theirs (or our) uncertainty. He was redirecting our trust because those idols are always ready to accept it!
Today, pay attention to the promises you are believing. Be confident that God doesn't ask us to trust empty promises. The future will always remain unknown to us, but it is never unknown to God.
Stay blessed...john
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