Can you imagine how easier life would be if we knew what was going to happen in the future?
Decisions to be made could be made a lot less complex if we knew the direct effects and consequences of doing this or that.
Worrying about the future would be totally eliminated. That would make my life a whole lot better, but it’s not all about me despite what I tell everyone.
Some saints may have allegedly had this gift, though. M’lady St. Faustina (feast day on October 5) may have seen her own canonization, describing in her Diary people in different locations watching it on big screens — such a thing not quite invented yet in the 1930s.
That was a very broad and non-specific vision, however. Pretty much none of us get to see what tomorrow, the next day, or the day after brings.
How on Earth do we cope with this? How do we know what to do if two paths diverge in a yellow wood and we don’t like poetry so we have no clue which direction makes all the difference?
For the groaners and eye-rollers out there, yes, the answer probably has something to do with prayer and faith in God.
This is still a Catholic newspaper after all.
Now what?
I’ve found myself saying “If I only knew what was going to happen in the future?” a lot lately to myself, my beloved, or random people in public who happen to be near me when I don’t realize I’m vocally talking to myself.
As I’ve said, I don’t have that luxury.
When making a decision, no matter how big or small, I just have to guess, have faith, and do the best I can.
Is there a chance something bad happens and hindsight tells me I should have done the other thing? Yup. Fun, huh?
This whole concept is enough to make a person feel beyond frustrated and lash out at the world.
There must be a way to handle this without “rawr”-ing like a dinosaur who misplaced his dinner (especially if you happen to be around said random people again — they are going to start wondering about you).
You can do what I do when it comes to trying to figure out what to do that could impact your future: Analyze all of the data, get frustrated when you’re still at a 50-50 choice regarding a decision about something, get frustrated when you start thinking the right thing to do is not the thing you want to do, ask people for their opinion and not hear what you want to hear, weakly pray about it and get frustrated when things don’t become any clearer, and end your day preparing for tomorrow’s doing of the process all over again.
It’s not an ideal way to live.
Perhaps I ought to go with the weakest item on that list and work on that one more. Ah yes, prayer.
Prayer and faith
Not every decision in life that we make is going to be the “right” one.
Sometimes, a choice we made or action we took looks great for about five years and we think we are a genius.
Then things change and we wish we had wisdom and knowledge that there is no way we could have had at that time.
How many times do we say the “Had I known . . .”?
You didn’t. You couldn’t. It’s not your fault.
One thing we can remind ourselves is that God is with us no matter what decision we make or choice we choose.
He may not give us a 100 percent total safety net or a redo if something goes terribly wrong, but I have to think there is some level of an “it’ll be alright” that He gives us.
The God of Love won’t totally leave us hanging, especially if we did all we could to do what we did not knowing what the future had in store.
Prayer will always work too. Maybe not in the obvious manner that we would like (REMINDER: WE ARE NOT GOD, HE IS), but God is always loving us no matter what we do.
What are you struggling with right now that you wish you knew some answers to?
What is something you’re aching to know the outcome of?
What is something you’re to make a decision about because there is a fine line between the best decision you’ve ever made and the worst mistake of your life?
I know some of us can be under a lot of pressure with these thoughts, choices, and decisions to deal with.
Our Heavenly Father doesn’t want us crushed under these weights. He also has given us the total freedom to make these choices in our lives.
You will never fully know what the future will be when you pick a direction. All you know is God sees it all and knows what’s best for you.
How well can we let go and let Him know the future that we’ll see when we get there?
Thank you for reading.
I’m praying for you.