Most people do not look ahead. Most people do not see or think about new things. Most people do not actively seek to increase what they perceive and understand. Most people deny even what is obvious in their present experience:
...in this ye have sinned, for ye have rejected all these things, notwithstanding so many evidences which ye have received.... (Helaman 8:24)
Even when people pay attention to what is evident before them, they still routinely overlook what is beyond their immediate experience but fully within their capability of understanding through reason:
2 Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.
3 And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him. (Helaman 12)
Too many people treat life as if it were comprised of static resources. They live their daily lives as if things will always be exactly how they presently are:
11 Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names.
12 Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
20 Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish. (Psalm 49)
In Proverbs, we read:
The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing. (Proverbs 20:4)
The problem with avoiding plowing in the cold is that the season of cold weather is exactly when you need to plow. If it were already warm, it would be too late to plow. There are more productive things to do in the season of warmth, like sowing seed, but that requires that you have already plowed. Spring rains will germinate seed, but only if it has already been planted.
Furthermore, the fact that cold weather is unpleasant is totally irrelevant to whether or not one should plow. The question is: what will be the future need for grain, and will the benefits of having it then outweigh the costs of sowing it now?
This proverb is also useful in highlighting the fact that present abundance does not imply that present action is unnecessary for future benefit. While harvested grain provides a store of food, it also provides the seeds for next season’s crop. The presence of a store of grain does not indicate that there is no need to plant again this season.
Those who act based only on the present will not only miss out on many outcomes available only to those willing to think of the future, they will also lose even their present situation when unforeseen challenges invariably strike:
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. (Matthew 13:12)
Honest reflection causes us to recognize that things can change in extreme ways, whether over time or suddenly.
Faith helps us gain improved future outcomes through sacrifice of the present. Faith means obtaining outcomes beyond what is presently before you by preferring desires, reasons, and actions that are beyond what is presently before you.
If you can mentally visualize what you want and what it will take to get it, you can choose to willingly sacrifice present pleasure for future gain. If you can mentally visualize potential future changes in your circumstances, you can choose to willingly sacrifice present comfort for future preparation.
We apply a discount to future benefit. Faith requires you to value future outcomes as if they were in the present. All faithful people submit to present discomfort for the sake of the future:
...others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: (Hebrews 11:35)
This “torture” can and does consist of much broader experiences than mere literal torture. The torment of life for a faithful person includes a litany of affliction, ranging from loneliness to betrayal to sickness to deep unfulfilled yearnings.
Abraham had faith in the future when he submitted to the sacrifice of Isaac:
17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. (Hebrews 11)
Moses had faith in the future when he preferred to be a servant of God over being a prince in Egypt:
24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;
25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;
26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. (Hebrews 11)
The ability to value future outcomes as if they were in the present is something that manifests through nearly every aspect of a faithful person’s life. A person who values future outcomes as if they were present will act very differently in things big and small in their lives.
Future-believing people don’t do things that are well-known to have bad long-term outcomes. They don’t ignore them because of their obviousness:
O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever. (Alma 37:46)
For example, they will not do things like smoke cigarettes, because they clearly view the future health problems that they would have by smoking. No rational person would opt to trade a diminishingly effective nicotine hit for lots of wrinkles at a young age or a high probability of cancer if these things were immediate.
Future-believing people honestly assess the consequences of present choices. Ammon and his brothers had great faith because they understood the ramifications of their work: “...for they supposed that great was the work which they had undertaken.” (Alma 17:13)
Future-believing people react promptly to subtle indications of major long-term effects. For example, they will notice if they are heavier than they were a year ago, and they will make necessary changes to reverse the trend because they see this will lead to obesity, and no rational person would opt for that.
Future-believing people make daily small contributions to major longterm outcomes. They understand that “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.” (Alma 37:6) For example, they will spend time each day focusing on God, knowing it will provide a tremendous treasure of familiarity with his word. They will save a little money every day, seeing future opportunities to invest and knowing that will require capital that can only come from consistent sacrifice long before then.
Future-believing people do not stop once they’ve accomplished something. They continuously seek the best present course of action for the best future outcomes. They do not seek to “finish”, but rather they seek to continuously do the best they can with whatever resources they have. For example, Alma never ceased preaching, even after a lifetime in God’s service:
And now it came to pass that the sons of Alma did go forth among the people, to declare the word unto them. And Alma, also, himself, could not rest, and he also went forth. (Alma 43:1)
Future-believing people do things in the present that will have absolutely no effect for a long time. For example, they do things like plant nut trees, which can take seven years or more just to bear the first crop, and sugar maples, which take forty years of growth before they can be tapped for maple syrup. Nephi and his descendants invested significant time and effort in engraving their spiritual records into metal plates for the benefit of people who would live many generations after them.