God gives wonderful promises. They are so wonderful that many of us assume they can’t possibly happen in this lifetime, so they must belong to another. After all, aren’t we guaranteed trouble in this world (John 16:33)? Isn’t this lifetime meant to be painful, with heaven as our rest from all that’s difficult? That seems to be a common perspective, especially when life gets tough. So we defer our hopes to another age.
That’s a mistake. God fully intends for us to step into many of his best promises now. Just because something seems unrealistic doesn’t mean we should stop hoping for it now. If God promises something—fulfillment of hopes and dreams, supernatural power, a relationship with him that goes far beyond human understanding—that’s our cue to pursue it. Now.
David expressed this stubborn pursuit of God’s promises, even though God had deferred the fulfillment of one of his dreams to the next generation. I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 27:13). He knew God’s goodness applies all the time, even now. And those who seek it will find it in fuller measure than those who don’t. They have faith in God as the giver of all good things. And faith always, eventually sees.
