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How Real Are Your Prospects for the Future?

YOUNG or old, rich or poor, sick or healthy, you have a future, for the word “future” means “time that is to come.” And everyone reaches the future at the same rate of 60 minutes an hour. What that future will bring for you, however, depends on how you view it and plan for it.

Your future consists of more than just the time that remains of your present life. It also includes how you use that time, the plans you have made, the goals you have set. As one noted inventor observed: “We should all be concerned about the future because we will have to spend the rest of our lives there.”

How Do You View the Future?

Why is it that so many give so little thought to the future? There are a number of reasons for this. Here are some of them:

▪ The anxiety and struggle of everyday life stifles thoughts of the future.

▪ The “now generation” philosophy promotes the view, ‘live for the moment and the future will take care of itself.’

▪ Those pursuing the ‘whatever will be, will be’ way of life believe destiny alone shapes the future.

▪ The ‘what’s the use’ feeling results in despair and deters setting goals for the future.

But how about those who do plan for the future? Their plans may lack objectivity and their future may, therefore, become disappointing. How so? If plans are based solely on human thinking and effort for fulfillment, they could lead to a future different from what is expected. A wise ancient writer made this observation about human thinking: “I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”​—Jeremiah 10:23.

If man has difficulty directing his own step toward the future, how can he successfully direct others? He cannot, because the two big things that shape human thought are flawed. One is inherited traits; the other, the environment. And the philosophy of the political, religious, economic and social community is constantly squeezing people into its mold. The result? Deflection of effort away from a realistic future.​—Romans 5:12; 1 John 5:19.

For example, this effort may include preparing for our children’s education, assuming that this will guarantee them a more promising future. Yet there are university graduates who are unemployed. Or it may be working extremely hard at present so as to be financially secure in the future. But inflation has stripped away financial holdings. Or it may be looking forward to retirement with a home and an income that will give material independence and the ability to live out the golden years in comfort. Yet death or some other disaster has robbed many of that hope. Or it may be believing that the future will somehow become better tomorrow. But that “tomorrow” never comes.

A Balanced Approach to Your Future

‘How can I have a realistic and meaningful future?’ you wonder. The answer may lie in what Nobel prize winner John Galsworthy wrote: “If you do not think about the future, you cannot have one.” Give serious thought first to what the future could bring. Next think about what you would like to be and do in that future. Then take the needed action to direct your steps toward that goal.

When you meditate about the future, include the Bible in your reasoning because it can bring into view future events you may not realize are before you. Foretelling future happenings accurately is one of the outstanding features of the Bible. This is possible because its Author, Jehovah, is a God of prophecy. He states: “From the beginning I foretold the future, and predicted beforehand what is to be.” (Isaiah 46:10, The Jerusalem Bible) Therefore, learning about God’s purposes regarding the future and how they will affect us is the most realistic course to follow, is it not? Our expectations for the future could be mere dreams if consideration of divine prophecy is missing from our plans. What does God predict that we should know? Can we alter our future plans to fit in agreeably with God’s prophecies?