Are you grateful or resentful? The answer to this question will determine your future.
An attitude of gratitude will determine your happiness and present, as well as your future. Our decisions will determine our future. Our choices should, therefore, have the future in mind. We should carefully consider the consequences of our words and actions, because we all reap what we sow. People create their path into the future by their choices and the attitude that shapes these choices. Best to keep the right attitude that allows you to create a good future! Show your gratitude with a good attitude!
A Future and a Hope
Most of us learn from trial and error - 'sometimes you win, sometimes you learn,' as John Maxwell the leadership expert is fond of saying. As long as we learn, we're all good. And guess what? You're allowed to make mistakes - but do learn from them. As a friend of mine keeps saying, if you make a mistake, make sure it's a new one =;-)
In Israel's biblical history not everything went 'according to plan.' As a matter of fact, seldom do things go as planned. Yet we plan anyway. At the same time, we must remain flexible and adapt as is necessary while keeping our aim at the intended outcome. Israel didn't always abide by God's laws and follow His will. The result was not good. They, too, as the rest of us, had to learn that actions have consequences. And sometimes we learn the hard way. Israel was exiled by a foreign power to a foreign land. They were separated from where God had planted them. They lived in Babylon instead of in Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel, where they belonged.
God's chosen people had sinned and refused to repent, and there are consequences for that. Prophets like Jeremiah would preach repentance for several decades, yet the people didn't give a hoot! People with hardened hearts simply don't want to hear what they need to hear, they only want to hear what they like to hear - but is often not helpful. Israel at the time was no different. It was as much a punishment for their sins, as also a consequence for a lack of repentance. God always forgives a repenting sinner! Yet if we don't repent, even God cannot forgive. We know this ourselves: relationships break down not because we make mistakes - as mistakes are part of human existence - relationships break because we refuse to put the wrongs right. Not everyone is willing to humble themselves, admit their mistakes and ask for forgiveness. Some people insist only the other party is wrong and refuse to fix it. Israel, in that regard, where disciplined by God not only for their sins but, perhaps more so, for their lack of repentance. God is a forgiving God, yet He demands repentance.
For seventy years Israel was exiled, yet there was a time of restoration coming. The same prophet who urged Israel to repent and get things right with God, was also the one who was inspired by God to speak words of comfort and hope.
For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans of welfare and and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
-Jeremiah 29:11 NASB
These words of hope gave them courage in their present situation. The hope for a better future is powerful. As Nietzsche rightly observed, 'He who has a why to live can bear with almost any how.' Without a future perspective, something to look forward to, life can become miserable. Even at work, people find comfort in looking forward to the next weekend. This is one of the problems with an outlook on life that denies life after death. People are able to endure much on earth with a comfort that they will be entering a better place after death. If all we have is this life, then people want everything good and want it all now! This has many dangers in it, including that of greed, coveting and the wrong pursuit of material possessions. But life doesn't consist of an abundance of possession (Luke 12:15). Isn't rather stupid to lose your own soul even if you gained the whole world? (see Luke 9:25). We should instead focus on what really matters, both in this life and the the one to come. Israel, despite their temporary captivity, had better days in a better environment to look forward to - and we need that future perspective too!
Dying on the Cross for the Joy Ahead
Dying is bad; dying in great pain is terrible. Yet Jesus, dying the worst kind of death - death on the cross - had something to look forward to: there was a 'joy set before Him' that empowered Him to 'endure the cross' (Hebrews 12:2). He had His 'why' and therefore endure His 'how.' In the garden of Gethsemane He decided to do whatever it takes to save humanity from eternal damnation - it cost Him His life. With this encouragement, the writer inspired his readers to 'run with endurance the race that is set before us' (v 1). Suffering is part of life, learning to handle it is the only way - and the best way. Looking to what is beautiful and what we can be grateful for in tough and painful tomes is certainly a power that will overcome all negatives and difficulties. What is it that you are looking forward to? Jesus' sacrifice was of the 'highest order,' yet to gain the 'highest price': salvation for humanity! Nothing was too much for Him to win the souls of humans and save them for eternity. Through faith in Him that salvation comes to us.
The death on the Cross has not only brought humanity salvation through faith in the Saviour Jesus Christ, but carries a powerful symbolic dimension. Jesus died innocently. Suffering is sometimes not our fault. Yet on the Cross, the Messiah even prayed for those who caused him to be there. These famous words have echoed around the world: 'Father forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing' (Luke 23:34). Forgiving those who are responsible for our suffering is powerful. Most people seek revenge. Can you forgive those who caused you harm? Jesus knew that His death would bring about salvation. It seemed foolish to those who hated Him, yet He also died for them. Some people will simply not understand or misjudge your decisions, and you even may look like the 'total looser.' Yet as long as you know why you are enduring it, and keeping doing the right thing, the end will justify the present. As long as you know your why, you can endure your how.
Be grateful in your present and you can build towards a better future!
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