To Give a Future and Hope

May 2021

My dear youth:

I greet you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and I ask that his blessings,
love and direction be upon you in abundance.

The great uncertainty

Terms that discourage people are heard everywhere, such as: inflation,
speculation, crisis, financial chaos, hunger, poverty, racism, child abuse, rape, conflict,
gender violence, immorality, climate change, global warming, pandemic, new world
order and a long etcetera. Given this list, it is not surprising that people see the future
without hope, and this is the worst thing that can happen to human beings.

The uncertainty of what tomorrow will bring us steals the joy of living, because
we are beings built with a mental structure that seeks predictability, security. There is
nothing that causes us more restlessness and unease than not knowing if we will be
able to pay the bills for our house, school or university of the children, if someone will
assault us on the street and attack us, if they will attack our children, if they will enter
at home to rob us, if the government will be able to pay the pensions of those who
have not yet retired and those who are already retired, if we will keep our job or lose
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it, if the marriage will end in a divorce or last forever, if we some incurable disease will
come, etc. The media is already working to fan the fires of despair, presenting terrible
news and images of our world, instead of focusing more on the positive aspects that
still exist on our planet Earth. This is our life. Not in vain did the Lord Jesus say: “…
In the world ye shall have tribulation.” John 16:33. Yes, it is true that we live sitting
on the crater of the volcano called uncertainty and that at any moment it can erupt and
take us.

Our great security

But it is also true, blessed security! that the Lord has promised to be with us
and protect us from evil. In fact, this should be our daily request, as ends the model
prayer that Jesus left us as a guide: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver
us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.
Amen.” Matthew 6:13.

“For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever…” If our
God is the King of the universe, if He has all the power and all the glory is His, why
worry about the future? David said: “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom
shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm
27:1.

The black clouds of adversity hang over our heads every day. The future is
increasingly uncertain and gloomy, but the Word of God must prevail. It must stand
out above all that threatens to rob us of faith and hope. Christians should be the most
hopeful and stable people in this world, because we have at our disposal the promises
of the Lord, which are valid and are still powerful as they always were.

I don’t know what will become of me tomorrow, nobody really does. For this
very reason I cling to my Savior, as a castaway on the high seas clings to his raft, with
the full assurance that my beloved Jesus Christ will not leave me nor abandon me. He
has promised in His Word and it is my duty to believe in it: “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.” Jeremiah 29:11.

God wants to give us a future and a hope! Isn’t that a wonderful thing? The
wicked, inspired by the enemy, can do whatever they want to control this world and
establish its restrictive, oppressive laws and norms… But what they do not know is that
everything is in the hands of the One who is the Owner of life, the Author of the
Universe, in whom is “all” the power, the last word and will is His.

Dear youth, we serve the one who opened the Red Sea; to the same that the
proud nation of Egypt subdued. We believe and love the one who calmed the winds
and storms with the power of His word, that raised the dead and healed the lepers.
We believe in the One who turned water into wine and fed the multitudes. He made
the paralyzed walk and comforted the hopeless. Faith cannot serve us only when
everything is going well, we need to exercise it every day, even in the worst
circumstances, because only through it can we see the things that the eye cannot see,
nor the ear hear, those wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love
Him (1 Corinthians 2:9). Our God lives and reigns and is the same God who brought
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water out of the rock in the desert and provided food, protection, and clothing for Israel
throughout their journey through the desert. We believe in the God who cast out
demons, who walked on water, who gave sight to the blind and made the deaf to hear;
the one true God who changed hearts and brought peace and hope to this humanity
and who loves us in such a way that he became man to live among us and raise us
from the mire of sin.

“We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the
Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” Life Sketches of Ellen G. White,
pg. 196.

Conclusion

Dear youth, it is our prerogative to harbor the hope that God gives us through
His Beloved Son. We can look to the future with the assurance that the best awaits
us, as the Lord has promised. Let us not get discouraged or our allow our hope to
wane: “Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the Lord
all the day; For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.”
Proverbs 23:17, 18.

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give
them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them
out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no
one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.” John 10:27-29. “I have been
young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his
descendants begging bread.” Psalm 37:25.

Hold on to these promises and trust that God will do the best for you. Receive
my fraternal greetings and may God bless you. Amen.

José Vicente Giner
Pastor and Leader of the Youth Department
of the General Conference

For reflection: