SECTION 7
What Hope Do We Have for Future Happiness?
“Happy is the man that has not walked in the counsel of the wicked ones, . . . but his delight is in the law of Jehovah, . . . And everything he does will succeed.”
THROUGHOUT the ages, thinking people have asked, “What does the future hold for us and for all mankind?”
Why must the answer involve God?
Only God can tell us about our future, and he has done so. We can count on what he tells us. He says: “My word that goes forth from my mouth . . . will not return to me without results.”
Does God expect us to solve our own problems?
History shows that man’s efforts to live without God’s guidance have not resulted in happiness. Why not? We were not created to live independent of God, any more than small children can live successfully without their parents’ guidance. The prophet Jeremiah acknowledged: “It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.”
Of course, God expects us to do our best to cope with life’s challenges, but many of them are beyond our ability to resolve. That is why he wants us to rely on him, not on ourselves. When we do, the outcome will be good. “In all your ways take notice of [God], and he himself will make your paths straight.”
