The Ghost of Christmas Future
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”—Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)
The last spirit to appear to the greedy and gloomy Ebenezer Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas Future. He is personified as the dark and dreary Grim Reaper, clothed in a hooded black robe and holding a menacing scythe. His features are never seen and he never speaks, thus suggesting the uncertainty of what the future holds. Scrooge somehow manages to understand what the spirit says, although we are never given a clue as to what is said or communicated except through the spirit’s gaunt hand pointing periodically. The Ghost of Christmas Future offers a bleak view of what the future holds. Death awaits and there appears to be no hope.
Last year’s Christmas season was one of the darkest Christmases of my life because we were homeless. We weren’t living on the streets homeless, but homeless in that we didn’t have a house or apartment and we were moving back and forth between family and friends in different states. I had just finished some schooling and was trying to jump back into the workplace when the economy hit rock bottom. I couldn’t get a job, any kind of job, anywhere.
It was terrible. Most nights we slept on our friends’ pullout couch in their basement, while my 6-year-old and 2-year-old daughters slept on an air mattress and spare couch. Each night when we would kiss our kids goodnight, I felt this angry-sorrow in my soul. I was angry with God for what I believed He was putting us. And I was sorrowful because I wasn’t able to provide for my family.
For the eight months we were homeless we never missed a meal, and there wasn't a night where we didn’t have some place to stay. God was faithful. The reality was, God needed to break me. I had become proud. I was proud of what I had done, where I had been, and choices I had made. I was trying to find my righteousness in the sight of God by my own works and deeds. At the moment when all hope seemed lost and I was drowning in my own sorrow and selfishness, Jesus reached down and picked me up. He taught me about grace and allowed me to see His faithfulness all over again.
Soon after God broke me, He opened the door for me to work again. And He has blessed tremendously ever since then, although He has taught me a valuable lesson that I will never forget. God broke me because He loved me. As Hebrews 12:5-6 says, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives." He disciplines us because He loves us.
In today’s scripture God makes a promise to the nation of Israel when they are in exile from the Promised Land. They had undergone God’s discipline and were doubtful of their future. God sent a reminder that He had plans for their lives. God doesn’t delight in breaking our spirits. He only breaks us in order to remind us that trusting in ourselves cannot satisfy. He gave them a promise of a good future and hope. They didn’t need to fear. God was for them, not against them.
My brother or sister, I pray that we all might breathe a sigh of relief this Christmas season. As the days become more and more filled, the stress begins to pile up, and the future breeds a bit more fear and anxiety than the day before, stop and realize that whatever difficulty you are going through, God is with you. As the scripture says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you”—1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV). God cares more about you than you could ever realize. We simply need to trust in Him and His plan to give us a hope and a future. Amen.
The last spirit to appear to the greedy and gloomy Ebenezer Scrooge is the Ghost of Christmas Future. He is personified as the dark and dreary Grim Reaper, clothed in a hooded black robe and holding a menacing scythe. His features are never seen and he never speaks, thus suggesting the uncertainty of what the future holds. Scrooge somehow manages to understand what the spirit says, although we are never given a clue as to what is said or communicated except through the spirit’s gaunt hand pointing periodically. The Ghost of Christmas Future offers a bleak view of what the future holds. Death awaits and there appears to be no hope.
Last year’s Christmas season was one of the darkest Christmases of my life because we were homeless. We weren’t living on the streets homeless, but homeless in that we didn’t have a house or apartment and we were moving back and forth between family and friends in different states. I had just finished some schooling and was trying to jump back into the workplace when the economy hit rock bottom. I couldn’t get a job, any kind of job, anywhere.
It was terrible. Most nights we slept on our friends’ pullout couch in their basement, while my 6-year-old and 2-year-old daughters slept on an air mattress and spare couch. Each night when we would kiss our kids goodnight, I felt this angry-sorrow in my soul. I was angry with God for what I believed He was putting us. And I was sorrowful because I wasn’t able to provide for my family.
For the eight months we were homeless we never missed a meal, and there wasn't a night where we didn’t have some place to stay. God was faithful. The reality was, God needed to break me. I had become proud. I was proud of what I had done, where I had been, and choices I had made. I was trying to find my righteousness in the sight of God by my own works and deeds. At the moment when all hope seemed lost and I was drowning in my own sorrow and selfishness, Jesus reached down and picked me up. He taught me about grace and allowed me to see His faithfulness all over again.
Soon after God broke me, He opened the door for me to work again. And He has blessed tremendously ever since then, although He has taught me a valuable lesson that I will never forget. God broke me because He loved me. As Hebrews 12:5-6 says, "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by Him. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and chastises every son whom He receives." He disciplines us because He loves us.
In today’s scripture God makes a promise to the nation of Israel when they are in exile from the Promised Land. They had undergone God’s discipline and were doubtful of their future. God sent a reminder that He had plans for their lives. God doesn’t delight in breaking our spirits. He only breaks us in order to remind us that trusting in ourselves cannot satisfy. He gave them a promise of a good future and hope. They didn’t need to fear. God was for them, not against them.
My brother or sister, I pray that we all might breathe a sigh of relief this Christmas season. As the days become more and more filled, the stress begins to pile up, and the future breeds a bit more fear and anxiety than the day before, stop and realize that whatever difficulty you are going through, God is with you. As the scripture says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you”—1 Peter 5:6-7 (ESV). God cares more about you than you could ever realize. We simply need to trust in Him and His plan to give us a hope and a future. Amen.
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