I Place the Future in the Hands of God.
1. With today’s idea we take another giant stride toward a swift salvation.
²And it is indeed a giant stride! I
³So great is the distance you have covered, you stand almost at Heaven’s gate, with the goal in sight and all obstacles behind you.
⁴You stand now in the quiet meadows that welcome you before the gates of Heaven, in a place of peace where you await God’s final step with certainty.
⁵How far along the road we truly are!
⁶How near the goal!
⁷And how short the journey still to come!
2. Accept today’s idea, and you have passed beyond all anxiety, the deep abyss of hell, the blackest depths of depression, thoughts of sin, and the ravages that guilt brings in its wake.
²Accept today’s idea, and you have set the world free from every prison, by loosening the heavy chains that locked the door to freedom shut.
³You have been saved, and your salvation becomes the gift you give the world, because you have received it.
3. No longer do you feel even a moment’s depression, nor experience any pain, nor perceive any sense of loss.
²You cannot even imagine enthroning suffering or worshiping it with devotion.
³You can no longer die.
⁴And so, you give to God each passing moment, and also the one to come.
⁵This is the time of your release from sadness, pain, and even death itself.
4. God holds your future just as He holds your past and present.
²They are all the same to Him, and so they should be to you.
³Yet in this world, the unfolding of time still seems to be real.
⁴That is why you are not asked to understand that time is not really linear.II
⁵You are only asked to let go of concern for the future, and place it in God’s Hands.
⁶And in doing so, you will see that you have placed the past and present there as well, because the past will torment you no longer, and fear of the future will be meaningless.III
5. Release the future.
²For the past is gone, and the present—freed from the burden of grief, sorrow, pain, and loss—becomes the moment in which time escapes from the chains of illusion through which it ran its pitiless, inevitable course.
³Now each moment, once a slave to time, is transformed into a holy instant, blessing the world as light is freed within the Son of God.
⁴Now he is free, and his radiance shines upon a world set free with him, to share his holiness.
6. If you but saw the lesson of today as the release it really offers, you would not hesitate to make the effort to hold it in your mind.
²Let it become the thought that rules your mind, the habit you use to solve all problems, the response you turn to instantly whenever temptation calls.IV
³And you will extend what you have learned to everything you see, and to the world.
⁴And when you see salvation everywhere, the world will see it too.
7. What worry can remain for one who places his future in the loving Hands of God?
²What can he suffer?
³What can cause him pain or bring him a sense of loss?
⁴What can he fear?
⁵And what can he regard with anything but love?
⁶For he who has escaped all fear of future pain has found his way to present peace, and certainty that he will never again feel threatened by the world.
⁷He is sure now that, though he may still misperceive, he will be corrected.
⁸He is free to choose again whenever he makes a mistake; to change his mind when he has been wrong.
8. Place, then, your future in the Hands of God.
²For in doing so you call upon the memory of your Father to return to you, and take the place of all your thoughts of sin and evil with the truth of Love.
³Do you not think the world would gain thereby, and every living creature respond with a healed perception?
⁴He who entrusts his future to God has also placed the world in the same Hands to which he has turned for comfort and security.
⁵He has laid aside the sick illusions of the world along with his own, and offers peace to the world, as well as to himself.
9. Now are we saved indeed.
²For now we rest in God’s Hands, untroubled, certain that only good can come to us.
³If we forget, we will be gently reminded.
⁴If a thought of condemnation rises in our minds, it will be replaced by the reflection of Love.
⁵And if we are tempted to attack, we will appeal to Him Who watches over our rest, to make the choice for us that leads us away from the temptation.
⁶The world is no longer our enemy, for we have chosen to be its friend.
I This Lesson is the last one identified as a “giant stride” in theWorkbook. Review the note for Lesson 61 to see a complete list of the giant strides.
It is very likely that this Lesson will become one of your favorites, for it is incredibly powerful, and its results are experienced in the very moment you make the declaration.
Place your future in God’s Hands with all your heart. Surrender to your Father all your worries and uncertainties. Be humble, and recognize that if the future overwhelms you, you need help. And to whom better could you turn than to your Father, who created you in love and still loves you with that same Love forever?
In this life you may doubt everything—but never the Love and Help of your Creator. To doubt His Love and Care is hell, for there is no other hell than that; and to trust in His Love and Care is Heaven, for there is no other Heaven than that.
Without God there can only be fantasies, which will inevitably collapse and become nightmares. But in God… there are no words that can express what that means.
It is difficult—indeed, it is very difficult—to describe the peace that comes with trusting in God; in fact, it is impossible. Perhaps it can only be said, in the simplest terms, that to trust in God is instant salvation—and this is literal, not an exaggeration. Moreover, remember that it requires nothing but your willingness.
Your decision to place your future in God’s Hands positions you instantly at the gates of Heaven. It is the easiest and quickest means of leaving behind all anxiety, all fear, all pain. How could you not fall in love with such a formula? How could you not turn to it at every moment?
You need not recall this thought only when you feel burdened, tempted, or threatened; on the contrary, it is wise to grow familiar with it when you feel well, secure, and safe. To place the future in God’s Hands at all times is the way to reclaim the Sonship that is yours and to which you have every right.
Begin now to form a familiar relationship with God, for He is your Father. That relationship will gradually shape and restore your true identity. If, starting right now and with constancy, you entrust all your concerns to God, the time will come when feeling yourself to be the Son of God will be natural to you and will replace the image you now hold of yourself.
Keep in mind that what you believe yourself to be entirely determines your perception, and there is no idea more sublime than to recognize the sublimity of your own existence. In this case, such a belief is not an idle fantasy but a thought perfectly aligned with truth, even if it is held by a fragmented mind that perceives itself as separate from the Christ Mind. It is a profoundly healing belief that dissolves the ego and leads you toward God.
You are spirit—you are eternal, invulnerable, and unlimited. That is a fact. But the separated mind, clinging to a personal identity, does not know it, for it cannot know; it can only believe. Therefore, it is in your best interest to believe in true ideas, which, though not the truth itself, do reflect it. To dwell in the ideas this Course presents is the most effective way to prepare yourself for the final step that God will take for you and with you.
Your personal identity is like a small boat sailing on the river of life, which has its own flow. Do not go against the current. Take your hands off the tiller and look trustingly toward the horizon, enjoying the motion of the waves and the clouds of Heaven. It will not be long before you discover, to your amazement, that the vessel has vanished and that you are the river, the sky, the wind, and the sun.
This Lesson is not merely a beautiful idea—it is a tool. In fact, it is one of the most powerful the Course offers you for dealing with a very specific kind of suffering: anxiety about the future. Jesus is direct—if you truly accept this idea, all uncertainty disappears. All anxiety, all fear of outcome, all fear of failure dissolve. Why? Because you have released control. You have stopped trying to manage the unmanageable. You have recognized that you do not know what is best for you, and you have handed over the agenda.
And this is not a metaphor—it is literal. When you say from the heart, “I place the future in the Hands of God,” you are releasing the very core of all anxiety: the expectation that something could go wrong. If you say it sincerely, it is impossible to feel fear at the same time. They are incompatible states of mind. This is one of those ideas you need not believe to see that it works—you need only practice it.
The key lies in its use. It is not a phrase to repeat halfheartedly, but a tool to apply when fear arises. It works—but only if you use it seriously, as one who learns to handle a precise instrument. It is not enough to say it; you must stop, come into contact with the fear that arises, and consciously choose to release it. Not to evade responsibility—you still have to pack your bag, make decisions, face what comes—but to let go of the weight of the outcome.
Moreover, this Lesson reveals something profound: the fear of death does not come from death itself, but from the idea of death that you carry in your mind. What torments you is not the end, but the anticipation of the end. It is the ego’s projection upon a future that does not exist. And this practice deactivates precisely that—the projection. It brings you back to the present, where you are safe.
If forgiveness is the great tool for healing the past, this Lesson is the supreme resource for freeing the future. The Course gives you both—not as ideas, but as instruments. Use them. Use them with honesty and perseverance. Do not wait to be at peace before surrendering everything; surrender, and you will see peace.
This phrase is not filler—it is your lifeline. Practice it as a professional of the soul. Try it when you do not know what to do, when you must decide, when you cannot sleep. Not as evasion, but as loving surrender.
And remember: the future is not your enemy; it is your classroom. Everything that comes will be, without exception, an opportunity either to love more or to learn more. And if you see it that way, you will truly be in God’s Hands.
II You are not asked to understand that everything happens simultaneously—or, rather, that in truth nothing has ever happened.
III The conflicts of the past pursue you into a present you waste by fearing that their consequences will reach you in the future. By placing your future in God’s Hands, you have in fact given Him the entire sequence. For in giving God your future, you also place your past and your present in His Hands, and thus you are completely freed from the bondage of time.
IV That “repertoire” is the set of statements from thisCourse that you keep ready in your mind because they are especially useful for resolving difficulties. Today’s idea should become a “habit”—a fundamental resource whenever anything troubles you.