As we struggle with the burdens of the day, we sometimes wonder, but let the word go forth this morning that we have a future, that however threatening the skies appear, there is no cause for faith to fail. We have the promise of our Lord for that, and he is just as active in our world as he has ever been in anybody’s world. He is at work, in a series of unfolding promises, to bring his ultimate promise to fulfillment.

The promise of our Lord is urgent on my heart whenever as a pastor I have opportunity to share the burden of a troubled person, the crisis of decision, the grief of loss, or any of those moments when the future seems to hide behind a wall we cannot penetrate. When counselors, or therapists, or doctors have to say, "This is as far as we can go," or when the sick are terminal…