When Tomorrow Doesn't Look Promising

Have you ever had a friend ask you to pray for something, but you already knew the answer?

Recently, a close friend had an important decision to make. She was waiting on the outcome of a situation in which I was heavily involved. I knew the answer she would receive. She didn't know I knew. She just asked me to pray.

Likely, my prayers for her sounded very different than what she intended.

I prayed for peace while she waited for the answer.
I asked for patience, as the decision she needed to make was urgent.
I pleaded with God to grow her faith, as she learned to rest in His timing.
I prayed she would accept the outcome as from God's perfect, loving hand.

And I wondered how God must feel when we pray and still struggle to find peace, when He is fully aware of what the future holds.

Right now, in the midst of a pandemic, the world wonders what tomorrow will look like. Most of us are out of work, with only an estimated return date. Some wonder if their job will still exist. Others are grieving the loss of loved ones. Still more wonder if their cupboards will be full again.

Life as it was one month ago looks very different from today, and one month from today might look different than we imagine.

But God is always previous.

This is an attribute of God I hadn't thought of much, until I read it in these terms.

We can look back at what God did in the past and watch what He's doing in the present. But do we consider that He has already worked in the future?

He not only knows "the end from the beginning," He's already been at work a month from now.

His "years are throughout every generation." (Psalm 102:24)

In other words, God "dwells in every period of time." (A.W. Tozer)

At once.

He isn't limited by time and events. He doesn't work today, unsure of how it will affect tomorrow. He hasn't made promises for the future, in hopes that all will go as planned.

He has already been at work tomorrow.

When we pray, do we rest in the truth that God has already accomplished the outcome?

God is previous.

Tomorrow is in His hands.

"I am God. . . .declaring the end from the beginning, 

and from ancient times the things that are not yet done." (Isaiah 46:9, 10)

Related post: Lying Limp in His Lap

Photo by noor Younis on Unsplash