It is still a hot topic of discussion almost everywhere I go. How much will we pay for gas in the future? The price we pay to drive our vehicles has been at the center of much of the financial news of the past year. You remember the shock you felt the first time you paid $2 a gallon, then $3, and occasionally even $4 a gallon. It was unreal. You sometimes had to use your credit card twice at the pump because the automatic price cut-off kicked in before you had filled up. I heard university students over the holidays talking excitedly about the cheap gas they were finding at only $1.50 per gallon.

If they only knew. I guess I must be really old but I remember the shock of paying $1 per gallon for the first time. I remember being able to buy gas a few times at 19 cents per gallon. I could go for several days on a quarter's worth of gas. Who would have dreamed the price of gas would go so high, then so low, then so high? How do you budget travel expense? What will the price of gas be this year? And why does no one seem to know?

I am sure that I do not know the future. Smarter people than me are having a hard time figuring out gas prices, housing markets, international politics, environmental issues, and a whole lot more. So how does one live in uncertain times? How does one find joy, peace, hope, and security when the future is so unclear?

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Actually I stole this last sentence from a man named Paul who lived almost 2000 years ago. But I have learned the secret also. The secret is to find something you can be certain about. Something that you can count on no matter how bad — or how good — things turn out in the future.

It's Jesus. That may seem too simplistic, too "churchy" to say that, but it is true. I do not put my trust in the economy, or in the forecasts of economic trends, or in the price of gas next year, or even in the next decade. I will trust Jesus. He has a track record I can count on ... in history, but also in my life. He has, and he will, see me through whatever comes in this life. More importantly, he is my guarantee that this life is not all there is. I will live forever.

And that is the future I am certain of.

I have to know there is something I can count on both now and in the future.
If you want to talk more about putting your trust in Jesus, write me at steve@hopeforlife.org or visit our blog at www.hopeforlife.org.


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