Have you ever caught yourself saying, “Whatever will be, will be,” or hiding a lack of direction behind the phrase, “I’m just praying about it”?

In a powerful guest sermon at Cornerstone Church titled “Creating Futures,” Pastor Erick Rivas challenged believers to confront a tragic reality: God has elaborate, beautiful plans for our lives, but we often fail to make any plans for ourselves. Using a vibrant mix of scripture, logic, and raw honesty, Pastor Erick broken down the misconception that our lives are purely dictated by passive fate. The truth is, humans are the only species designed by God with the distinct cognitive and spiritual capacity to co-create their own futures. If you do not actively architect your tomorrow, you lose the right to complain about the future that others (or your circumstances) choose for you.

If you are ready to stop waiting for life to happen to you, here are the four pillars required to create an amazing future.

1. Be Unquenchably Ambitious

Many believers shy away from dreaming big because they confuse ambition with greed or materialism. But true spiritual ambition isn’t selfishness; it’s a refusal to settle for a stagnant status quo when God has promised increase.

Pastor Erick contrasted two distinct mindsets found in Scripture:

  • The Jabez Posture (1 Chronicles 4:10): Jabez cried out, “Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory!” He didn’t wait around—he was hungry for expansion. God wasn’t offended by his bold request; the Bible says God granted him what he requested.

  • The Neutral Posture (Proverbs 30:7-9): This text reflects a prayer often mistaken for humility: “Give me neither poverty nor riches—feed me with the food convenient for me.” While it sounds deeply religious, it often masks a fear of being challenged. Living “in neutral” means you don’t have to stretch your faith or apply discipline.

God is a God of abundance, promotion, and progress. To build a great future, you must be ambitious enough to ask for more territory, more influence, and a better outcome for your family.

2. Live Wildly and Fiercely Curious

Curiosity is the fuel that transitions us from the dependency of a newborn to the strength of an adult. When we stop growing, it’s usually because we’ve lost our inquisitiveness.

Consider Moses. He didn’t just look at the burning bush from afar and shrug; his curiosity drove him closer: “I will now turn aside and see this great sight.” That one curious step shifted his destiny and the history of an entire nation.

Pastor Erick issued a strong warning to modern Christianity: Stop saying “amen” to everything without thinking. We live in an era where logic is bypassed for superficial, religious-sounding catchphrases. God directly invites your hard questions:

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” — Jeremiah 33:3

Don’t settle for secondhand information or empty routine. Do your research, investigate, study, and actively seek the deeper things God wants to reveal to your mind.

3. Nourish Your Imagination

Your imagination is the exact property line where the invisible begins to materialize. It is God’s playground. This is why Jesus commanded us to become like children—because children possess boundless, unrestricted imagination.

When God told Joshua to meditate on the Word day and night (Joshua 1:8), He was inviting him to use his imagination to build structural clarity for his destiny. The six inches between your ears is the most valuable real estate you own. If it is constantly crowded with stress, anxiety, and media consumption, there is no room left to sketch out a vision.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…” — Ephesians 3:20

God specifies that He responds not just to what we pray (ask), but what we think. If you can clear out the noise, put the Word of God in your mind, and see your future clearly, God has the structural framework to exceed it.

4. Become a Fierce Non-Conformist

The definition of insanity is doing the exact same thing while expecting a completely different result. To change your life, you have to break conformity. Pastor Erick highlighted three specific ways King David modeled a non-conformist lifestyle:

  • Rejecting Foreign Weapons: When Saul offered his armor, David refused to wear it. Just because a method, strategy, or career trajectory works for someone else doesn’t mean it’s designed for you. You must develop your own authentic strategies.

  • Ignoring the Critics Closest to You: David’s own brothers mocked his presence at the battle lines, accusing him of pride. Often, it isn’t the giants outside that kill our dreams—it’s the discouraging words of the people closest to us.

  • Managing Proximity and Valuing Yourself: When David realized his brothers didn’t value him, he simply turned away and asked someone else what the reward was for defeating the giant.

Pastor Erick shared a personal revelation from turning 50: The gift of absence. Stop begging for validation in rooms where you are not valued. If you are constantly subjected to dysfunctional, toxic, or mediocre mindsets, you must intentionally introduce a healthy distance. Proximity is contagious. If you keep close company with five complacent people, you will inevitably become the sixth. Value yourself enough to walk away from spaces that require you to shrink.

The Work is in Your Hands

Miracles require cooperation. Don’t expect prayer to fix a marriage if you refuse to treat your spouse with respect, and don’t ask for a supernatural passing grade on a final exam you didn’t study for. God provides the power and the plans (Jeremiah 29:11), but the architecture of execution belongs to you.

Reset your mind, delete the viruses of past labels, and start actively drafting the lifestyle, career, and family legacy you want to leave behind.

To watch the full sermon, experience the humor, and participate in the altar call, you can stream the full service here: