Is that you cannot do it, no matter how much you try.

Recently I have noticed numerous attempts to predict the future ranging from how you will look in 30 years to what the Church will be like in 25 years. Every time I see anything that tries to predict any future actions or appearances, I am sure they are wrong.

Why? Because our predictions do not account for significant unexpected events, tragedies, the behavior of other people and especially a work of God. Things can alter suddenly with one event. Lives can be transformed with one accident or unplanned moment. Organizations can change with one tragedy or act of terror. There is no way to predict when these will happen, and they are life-altering.

So what can you do? I suppose there are a couple of options. One is to throw up your hands and declare, “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.”

Another would be to prepare for the future anyway. Two essential practices are necessary for a good life, no matter what the future holds.

First, build your life on its unchanging realities. As a believer, I anchor my actions on the word of God. It has been around for well over 2,000 years and continues to influence people today. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.

Second, develop routines that will give you the best possible future. Prepare your mind, heart, and spirit for the failure of the physical. Invest in habits that create a life not dependent on circumstances. Practice love, pray, fast, give, serve, and show hospitality every day.

I do not know what I will look like in the future, nor what the world will be like, nor how the local Church will be connected. I do know that I can be prepared no matter what twists and turns life brings me in the future. My life is not dependent on my situation, but my relationship with God and his will.