The Way Forward Is Back
“… Seek His face continually. Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done …” 1 Chronicles 16:11-12 (NASB)
My brain’s favorite time to process problems is bedtime.
Many nights, while drifting off to sleep, I’m jarred awake as my mind attempts to resolve issues and control my unknown future. As soon as I’m tucked in, all cozy under my covers, quiet, still and sleepy — bam! I’m wide awake, mulling over fears.
Interest rates going up and cars breaking down.
Kids getting sick and parents aging well.
Global wars abroad and natural disasters at home.
It’s all too much.
I quickly advise others, “God’s got this.” It’s easy to say, “Don’t worry!” … until it’s 3 a.m. and everyone else is asleep but me. How do I practice what I so easily preach?
On one such night, I remembered a movie about a college rowing team training for the Olympics. Eight rowers sat in the boat with their backs to the finish line while their coxswain (steersman) faced forward, calling out commands.
To win, these rowers had to trust and obey their coxswain’s every command, giving their all, rowing as one. And the coxswain had to know his rowers well enough to change his voice's tone and cadence as needed to motivate each one differently, from one stroke to the next.
Isn’t that just how God wants to steer us to and through our unknown future?
In the 21st century, we often think of our future lying ahead of us, out in front. But in the Old Testament, the Hebrew concept of time was reversed: God's people saw the future at their backs. Similar to the rowers with their backs to the finish line, focused on their trusted coxswain to guide them, the Hebrew people focused on their trusted God, who had kept His promises before, to back them into their unknown future.
Today’s key verses say, “Seek His face continually. Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done” (1 Chronicles 16:11-12).
King David spoke these words to the people of Israel in a psalm of thanksgiving to God, who had brought Israel out of captivity and into their promised land. David wanted them to remember God’s faithfulness even when they had been faithless.
The God who was faithful in the past and throughout all Scripture can be trusted with our futures too.
If you find your mind fretting over life’s unknowns, visualize yourself in the boat, facing God as you row with your back to your future. Here are three simple ways to “seek His face continually” and “remember His wonderful deeds” (1 Chronicles 16:11-12):
Remember past times in your story when God came through for you or others.
Name what He’s already done throughout His Word and in the world.
Read or listen to Psalm 46. Let God’s Word wash over you as you drift off to sleep.
Today, let’s practice seeking the God who never steers us wrong and remembering all He’s done — so we can back confidently into our unknown futures where He already resides.
Lord, may we always seek You first to steer us through our storms, trusting You as our God who was, is and is to come. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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