Hope for the Days to Come

When my niece was a small child, she would ask quite often when putting her to bed, “What are we going to do tomorrow?” In my own Mission Friends group, even though we follow the same general schedule each week, our preschoolers will still ask, “What are we going to do next? When are we going to have snack?”

I think within most of us, there is the desire to know what will happen next or what will happen in the days to come. Though we cannot see into our future days here on earth, our hope in Christ gives us assurances that we can count on happening.

One of those assurances is that God is with us. The writer of Hebrews reminds us of this in Hebrews 13:5, “God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’” (NIV). In Matthew 28:20, Jesus himself assured us, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:21–22, “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” As believers, we can be assured that God is with us.

Another assurance for our days to come is that God hears our prayers. We use the Bible thought with our preschoolers: God hears our prayers (see 1 John 5:14). Psalm 66:19 also gives this assurance that “God has surely listened and has heard my prayer.” We can have hope for the days ahead because we know that God will hear our prayers as we talk with Him. Paul encouraged us to pray to God in every situation (Phil. 4:6). We can be assured that God hears our prayers.

Knowing God is with me and God hears my prayers gives me hope for the days to come. I may not know what is going to happen next, but my hope in Christ gives me the confidence of knowing He will be with me in the days ahead.

Pray:

Heavenly Father, Thank You for the assurances that You give me that in the days to come You will be with me and You will hear my prayers. May my hope in Christ be evident to the preschoolers I teach as I show them Your genuine love. In Christ’s name, amen.