Laughing At The Days To Come

January 4, 2025

For me, a new year comes with a lot of reflection, as well as new hopes and dreams. I find it powerful to look back and see all the ways that God has been at work. I don’t know about you, but it’s much easier for me to see God's plan for my life unfolding once I’m through a season and have experienced resolution and gained new insight. I can see how the puzzle pieces were put together, why things happened the way they did, and how even the struggles I’ve been through were to my benefit. I often wonder why I was so worried over trivial things and why I was so worked up in certain situations. Oftentimes, I’d say that I laugh at the days that have passed, but not the ones to come. For example, I dropped out of college a few years ago, and honestly, I laugh thinking back over those days of stressful procrastination, study cramming, breakdowns over the workload, and the heartache of finals week (if you know, you know). But being far on the other side of that season of my life, I look back with comedic pity for that girl, and I wish I could reassure my past self that homework and tests weren’t forever, and better things were yet to come. However, I did not walk through my schooling years with tranquility and hopeful foresight. I didn’t have the wisdom and hindsight that I do now that make me able to laugh at those days long passed. However, I’m yet again convicted by the Proverbs 31 woman, of whom it is said that, “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come” (Proverbs 31:25). I have always found it much easier to feel peace and assurance after a tough season of life has passed. I often walk through circumstances with worry, doubt, anxiety, and unrest. It’s once I’m through the valley and over the hill where I finally turn around and see clearly the view from the other side. It’s a wonder to me how the Proverbs 31 woman can go through life with a sense of peace about the unknown future and even “laugh” at the days to come. She has learned to rely on God through the smooth seasons of life as well as the rocky ones. Oh, how I desire to obtain that same unwavering faith and unshakable hope despite life’s circumstances. 

One of my favorite books of the Bible is Paul’s letter to Philippi, where he tells believers to “...not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phillipians 4:6-7) This was the first verse I committed to memory when I began memorizing Scripture. I wanted this verse to be at the forefront of my mind when going through the hard or unknown seasons of life. It's a timely reminder to not let yourself wallow in worry and walk through tough seasons alone. The peace of God is not only accessible, but guaranteed to be ours if we pray with faith and dependency on Him. Just a page over in the Bible is Colossians 1:11, where Paul writes to the believers in Colossae and prays that they “...be made strong with all the strength that comes from His glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father”. Through God's strength (not ours, the doctors, Google, random women on social media, but God's alone) we can not only endure situations, but experience patience and joy through them. The Scriptures are teeming with verses urging us to live as women that “laugh” at the days to come. This isn’t a call to walk carelessly or to be puffed up with arrogance. It’s a gentle instruction to move through life with confidence and full trust in the power of God to complete the good work that He began in us, and to count it all joy when we face the unavoidable trials of life. We need to be renewing our minds day by day with God’s infallible Word, gleaning wisdom from the Scriptures to walk closely to God and give Him all our cares, worries, and struggles. It’s because of our sin nature and inward focus that we burden ourselves with anxiety, flood our minds with self-deprecating thoughts, condemn ourselves to failure, self-diagnose ourselves out of fear, and lose hope so easily. We walk as if we had no confidence, but friends, we walk with the Lord God, who loves us and empowers us to face any trial and valley of life with confidence, trust, and assurance that His ways are higher than ours.

I want to encourage you today to begin laughing at the days to come. Know that God is in control, and use the hindsight of God making a way in your past to give you hopeful foresight moving into the unknown future. Walk forth with your eyes focused on eternity and your hope and dependence upon God because He alone is worthy, and He cares for you beyond your comprehension. At the end of 2026, I want to be able to say that I had full confidence and peace that God would use all the circumstances that year, good or bad, for His glory and my ultimate good. You don’t walk alone, friend.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)