Five Minute Friday ~ Future

Yep, it's Friday and that means...

Fiveminutefriday.com

Okay, so I didn't get it finished on Friday. Each time I previewed to make sure what I had added before and after my five minutes was where it was suppose to be, wasn't and it was giving me a hard time. When things like that happen it's best I just set it aside for a bit and come back later to try again. 

Without further ado.

Ready, set, go...

Que sera, sera

Whatever will be, will be

The future's not ours to see

Que sera, sera

What will be, will be

We might not be able to predict what the future will be, but God already knows what He wants the future for us to be. When you can look up in the sky after a storm, and see a rainbow develop as the clouds move away, it not only reminds us of that covenant He made with Noah but that our future will be with Him. After all, we are the future generations He was talking about!

Genesis 9:12-13English Standard Version (ESV)

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

From our very beginning, He has been planning our future.

Jeremiah 29:11 English Standard Version (ESV)

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare[a] and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

That was and still is my daughters favorite verse. During those teen years when things didn't always come together or as easy as we'd hope, knowing He has the plan that we can't quite figure out yet, He allows us to breath and understand that this to shall pass.

Every journey begins at birth. From that moment on, the present will inevitably become the past just as in the past it was the future. We will always be living in the present, remembering and learning from the past, while preparing and planning for the future. 

It is possible that the future you thought you would have, isn't exactly what it ended up being when it became the present. 

We have been enjoying our journey together for well over 40 years now. I can't begin to count the number of times we might have said, "In the future...", only for the future to have delivered something completely different. For instance, I thought I would still be riding roller coasters. Instead I get to live one! Not that it's a bad thing at all, as I love the thrill, the excitement. Investing in this journey with God's direction, allowed us to also invest in ourselves, in our future, and that future is eternity. 

Do we really want to know what the future will be? Que sera, sera.

Stop!!!!!

I wasn't ready for the beeps to stop. I wanted to expand on the roller coaster. How no two are really alike. How that first ride becomes the past and each turn, dip, twist, is learned along the way. I went a few second past to finish off with that last sentence. I had so much more I wanted to end with more about what will be, will be. 

Rules are rules.

Well I think working on getting a higher word count in five minutes is something I hope the future holds. I never realized how much I couldn't write in five minutes. Had I reached that goal, I would have wrote something like how we get there can depends the many paths we get to choose from along the way. One turn for me, might not be the same for someone else. Just as theirs might not be whats right for me. Some might like the fast lane and trendy things, while I enjoy the back roads and re-purposing those trendy things. 

I also had wanted to bring into it notes from this weeks Living Proof with Beth Moore. As always it was another one that shook and moved me. She always seems to discuss a topic that has or had been weighing on my heart. It was just what I needed to excite me even more for her upcoming Entrusted Summer Bible Study that starts June 15th.

"Ministry is the collective works God has called us to do in our lifetime upon this planet to His great glory."

The past, present, and future makes up that journey of a lifetime!

"Whom among us is willing to believe the power of Jesus could dramatically change something that has been true of you since birth?"

Me, me, me! Oh Jesus, me! Oh so thankfully I praise Him! Even when I stumble. Even when I disconnect from Him. Even when I ignored Him. He stood by knowing He would continuously be with me along this path to my future. He is the only one who knows where I will be, what I would be, and it is through Him that I am right where I am suppose to be for Him.

"We will deal with erroneous estimations of others all our serving lives."

Ain't that the truth! I so wish I didn't have to hear the comments, or the opinions of others, but some just shout them out so loud you have no choice. A while back I had received a response to a letter I had written. 

 "If you want to believe that God has a plan for you that's fine. I don't believe that God has a plan for any of us. We are in control of your lives and how we live them."

It came at a time when the future I thought I was going to have, had been turned upside down. Once the dust settled, standing firmly in my faith, what was once upside down, grew in a whole new direction. By the grace of God, it had turned out to be a blessing. Only God can do that! He transforms us!

Acts 14:22-23English Standard Version (ESV)

22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. 23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

At the end she left us with 5 words for the journey:

Just keep getting back up.

That is exactly what I have done my entire life. Go ahead, knock me down. I have the power of God that allows me to get back up again!