There comes a point in time when we mustn’t worry about what our own futures, and the future of the world will be like. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t wonder every once in a while and dream about what we’d like to do within a certain time frame, but we must realise that rarely, and I mean rarely, do things ever go to plan. You plan for something, and then life takes you on a detour and you experience something else. You think your life is going to be picture A but then it turns out to be picture B. You start to realise that sometimes thinking about the future can seem futile- because really, why should you plan if things aren’t going to go the way we think?
I sometimes often wonder about the future sometimes. Even though I know that if I make a big plan, it probably won’t come to pass; I still nevertheless daydream a bit. Not necessarily about my own future, but the future in general- of the world. How would this place look like in 5 years, 10 years? Will technology rapidly increase to bring about the things of Orphan Black in terms of cloning, or Bicentennial Man or Extant in terms of robotics? Will it be like Surrogates where we lie in a pod every day and let our ‘surrogate’ roam the streets, or will we live in another world via dream like states like what it was in Inception? Will we live like people do in TV shows like Revolution or The 100 (with limited electricity) or will machines start to rise up and take us hostage like Terminator? Whatever the case, I know one thing is for certain- we probably won’t see it coming. To be frank and honest, we didn’t really anticipate the high demand for mobile phones, facebook and twitter when they were initially created, and I don’t think we’ll truly know where we stand technologically than when we’re actually in the thick of it.
We all have our grand plans of what the future of our own lives should or even could be, and we all conjure up in our own minds what we believe the future of the world should look like- if everything travels at a pre-determined rate. But we hardly ever predict correctly. And I’ve been wondering- why is that so? Why do we think of our futures, but get it so wrong once we’re there? One prime example is the 1989 movie, Back to the Future II. In the movie, it was predicted that 2015 would be like something that, now fast-forward 25 years, is far from reality- where are the hoverboards for example?
Sometimes I think it’s because we are too optimistic- we think and hope for the best, even when reality tells us otherwise. Sometimes it could be because of how we are oblivious to all the signs pointing us to our futures in front of us, and are ignorant to the happenings of the world. Or we could be so fixated on our plans that we don’t allow for God to move in the ways that He alone can. Or we could be trying to undertake and even believe in our own strength (and thus project our own future from that) when really we need to place things in God’s hands and watch Him weave together something we may not necessarily even consider, and give us a future far better than we could even conceive.
The future can be a scary thing, and just like the title of this blog post suggests, we can often think that the future of our own lives may not necessarily be as what we’d hoped. That is the fact with a lot of things- we lament that the new Red Box/Hoyts DVD convenience boxes aren’t as personable as the video store, or we don’t like it how the Wii U is much more individualistic compared to the Wii. We even ponder the good old days where TV shows of the past were better than current ones, and we surmise that individuals are consuming much more media now than previously (which is in fact true)- in all these circumstances, we say the thing of the past is much more appealing than what we have currently. It is in this way that we may think of our own futures- often lamenting on our own choices, mistakes, regrets and the like- not moving forward because of what the past has over us (good or bad).
As much as what the future can give us (a whole bunch of unknowns), one thing’s for sure- we ought not to be afraid. Christ didn’t make us afraid, and if we are made in Christ’s image, the fear we have that may be settling over our own futures at this very moment is something we ought not to hold to in the circumstance we’re in. Whether it’s terminators, facebook, cloning, robots, travelling to other planets, a skyrocketing of demand for social media, or even the increased popularity of social media interaction ahead of face to face connection- it really doesn’t matter if we know that Christ is with us (and He is, if we feel Him or not).
Sometimes it’s easier said than done, and I still often wonder what it would be like if I had done things differently in my own past. Regardless, the future is what it will be cracked up to be, not because of the addition or the subtraction of anything that was mentioned in this blog post. But rather it is because of our knowledge of Christ in us, within us, the hope of glory in every situation and in every moment of our days.
What are you hoping to see in your own future in 5, 10 years’ time? What do you believe could be plausible for the world as a whole? Let me leave you with a bible verse about worry- something that will hopefully give us all comfort in knowing that our own futures, whatever they may look like, will be secure in Christ:- Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)
Til next time.
P.S.: What do you think the future of schooling, and careers would look like in the future (I’m honestly not sure- would need to read up on things first)? Would love your comments. Let us know.