1. God plans a blessed future for His people.
   1. God is a God of blessing for His people. He ultimately fulfills His promises and plans for His people. He always intends the good for His people and fulfills it for them. Jeremiah encourages God’s people with the following word: “ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jer. 29:11). Jeremiah delivered this message to the nation of Israel who would be taken captive soon. Though His people would suffer God’s discipline for years, they might find hope in the truth that God would plan for their welfare and give them a hopeful future. God disciplines His people to bring them back to a fellowship with Him. God’s ultimate plan is a blessed, hopeful, and bright future for His people.
   2. A hope of a blessed future helps God’s people endure hardships. The Lord Jesus knew His disciples were concerned because He said He would be crucified. So, He encouraged them this way, "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” (Jn. 14:1-3). The Lord is still preparing the best future for His people. Indeed, He welcomed His apostles into His blessed kingdom of heaven. God’s ultimate plan for our future is the consummation of our salvation. We shall see the Lord face to face and enjoy Him forever. This is the ultimate destiny God plans for His people.
   3. Faith goes through trials and tribulations in this world. Jacob received the blessings of God as his father blessed him in the name of Yahweh as follows: "And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed: Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.” (Gen. 27:27-29). His blessing is not only personal, but also corporate. He enjoyed the blessings of God in his lifetime. But his descendants received the blessings of God. The greatest blessing of God is that the Messiah would come from his line, through whom people in the world would be blessed. However, his life was full of trouble. After he received his father’s blessings, Jacob had to flee from Esau. He had to spend twenty years in exile, serving his uncle Laban. He suffered fraud, ten times of his wage, in the hands of Laban. He had to work day and night shepherding his uncle’s livestock. He spent countless numbers of nights in the fields, fighting cold temperature and wild animals to keep his uncle’s sheep. His uncle took advantage of Jacob for his monetary gains. However, the Lord blessed Jacob so much. Jacob became a wealthy man. Moses records it this way: “And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and menservants, and camels, and asses.” (Gen. 30:43). God blessed Jacob and his labour. Jacob became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel during his ordeal. Nothing could stop God from fulfilling His covenant with Abraham and Isaac for Jacob.
      
      
2. Faith is entrusting the future to the sovereign God.
   1. Faith is a trust of God’s providential faithfulness and goodness. By providence, God guides His people to His final goal, while training and blessing them to fulfill His plan. Knowing this, they must entrust their future to the gracious, powerful hand of God.
   2. Faith is a handing of the future over to God. The Israelites were confronted with the daunting task of conquering the Promised Land. God promised to give the land to them and be with them for their conquest. So, the people of Israel were supposed to commit their future into the hands of God. God promised them the future with the blessings of milk and honey. This doesn’t mean that they had nothing to do for the conquest of Canaan. They had to do everything according to the word of God. They had to risk their lives for the mission of God. They had to fight for the glory of God. Then, they committed all their efforts to God. They committed their future to God. Isaac did what he could do for his two sons. At the same time, he committed their futures to the God of sovereignty.
   3. Faith is a humble acknowledgement that we have no absolute power over our future. God alone has absolute power over the future. This truth should make God’s people humble. Also, they need to remember that what they do in the present has everything to do with what they will be in the future. Instead of wasting time worrying about the future, they must bear God-given responsibilities to prepare for God’s plan for their future. A pastor said, “Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we're to be lights as we watch and wait.” During his days as guest lecturer at Calvin Seminary, R.B. Kuiper once used the following illustration of God's sovereignty and human responsibility: “I liken them to two ropes going through two holes in the ceiling and over a pulley above. If I wish to support myself by them, I must cling to them both. If I cling only to one and not the other, I go down.”

Conclusion: We do not know what lies ahead, danger or safety, adversity or prosperity. Our future is uncertain to us. So, we may be concerned about it. However, God holds our future in His hands. He will not drop it. He will not fail it. He will fulfill His blessed plan for our future. We must commit your future to the mighty hands of God. We are to entrust all our worries and plans to God. We are to commit our present trials to God and commit the consequences of our trials to God, believing God will work them out for His glory and our good. Let’s remember the Lord Jesus Christ who committed His soul to the hands of the Father before He died. He committed His work of redemption on the cross to the sovereign hands of the Father. He did all the Father committed to Him. He committed all His work to the Father. Surely, He committed His life and death to the Father. The Father raised Him from the dead. The resurrection is a proof of God’s blessed plan for His suffering people. It is our ultimate hope whereby we go through the present suffering while trusting the God of sovereign goodness. God holds our future in His sovereign hands and plans the best for our future. Faith is entrusting the future to God. Proverbs 23:17-18 says, “Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.” The fear of God is often synonymous with faith in God in the OT.  A blessed future is in store for God’s people in Christ.

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