A Better Future

My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. (Phil. 1:7, MSG)

As my son became symptomatic in his teens, his future looked grim through my human mother’s eyes. When he joined the Marine Corp, he excelled and his future looked bright again.

It wasn’t long before the symptoms returned. He was discharged from the Corp after a suicide attempt. His doctor told him what he needed to do to return to the Marines. My hope raised. But, I put my hope in the military.

There is hope for a better future for our loved ones. Each of us must remember it is not the same future we anticipated for them. It is a realistic future. A realistic future will be different for each one.

For some realistic is recovery, a job, a family; but, not the job or family life we envisioned when our loved ones were children. For other a realistic future means living where assistance is available and constant relapse. For all a realistic future is better than having debilitating symptoms that can lead to jail, homelessness, or even death.

Still, the most realistic future is the one beyond now. It is the future with Jesus. We can experience some of that realistic future by putting our hope in God.

The reality is our loved one is ill. We cannot change that. But, we can change how we react to that illness. The future is not what we expected; it is in God’s hands.

Build your hope on nothing less than Jesus, and there will be a better realistic future.