To be human is to be finite—to be limited in our knowledge of past, present, and future. We exist within strict boundaries of time and space, so that we cannot see beyond our present location or beyond our present moment. This is a feature of our humanity and not a bug, for even when we were perfect, we were not unlimited. Omnipresence and omniscience belong to God alone, and even in heaven, we will be confined to the space and the moment we inhabit at any given time, for we will only ever be men and never gods.
The consequence is that the future remains entirely unknown to us. We advance through time, never knowing what the next moment will bring. We open a door (whether literal or metaphorical), never knowing if we will walk into joy or sorrow. We form relationships, never knowing if they will lead to laughter or tears. We visit a doctor, never knowing if the treatment will bring relief or pain. We just don’t know. We can’t know, for God wisely withholds the future from us.
Yet as we consider the future, we can always be assured of one outcome: There is blessing on the far side of obedience.
When we are faced with the choice between doing what is right and doing what is wrong, we can be assured that God will bless our obedience. When we have the choice to obey God or defy him, we can know that obedience will lead to blessings. When we have the opportunity to respond to God’s providence with submission or rebellion, we can be certain that he will respond positively as we bow the knee to say, “Thy will be done.” Even if we do not know the specific form these blessings will take or the exact moment they will be bestowed, we can know we will have them, for God loves to bless obedience and loves to reward conformity to his Word.
In this way, we advance into a future that is both opaque and clear, both dim and bright. We advance from this moment to the next, not knowing whether we will come into a season of unmatched joy or unparalleled grief. We go to bed tonight not knowing if tomorrow we will awake to fresh health or terrible illness.
We advance into a future that is both opaque and clear, both dim and bright.
But as we gaze into the unknowns of the future, we can know for certain that there will be opportunities to obey God, whether in joy or in grief, and there will be circumstances in which we can serve his cause, whether in health or illness. And as we obey God, he will continue to lavish his gifts of grace upon us. For there is always blessing on the far side of obedience.
“Blessed … are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28)
