Predicting The Future
The reason her Facebook post stood out, was because she was asking if anyone knew a good psychic.
Reference: v.17 then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. People toil to search it out, but no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it. (TNIV Bible)
Explore: As I’m on Facebook every day for work, I regularly skim over all my ‘friends’ status updates. The other day one caught my attention and reminded me that we are all in search for answers. This status update was by a young girl who was once a student at a primary school I worked at. She’s now well and truly finished primary school, and is a young adult who has completed all of school, and has recently entered the work force. The reason her Facebook post stood out, was not because she made me feel old realising how grown up she is now, but because she was asking if anyone knew a good psychic. I hesitated on this post because I wanted to tell her that there was no such thing, and it was not for an ungodly person to predict our future, but for some reason I didn’t write anything. This was because I don’t have a strong relationship with this girl anymore and, also, because I understood her desire to know the future. I don’t think that she was looking in the right direction, but often we clutch at straws just to get some idea of what we have coming.
Application: It seems harsh that we don’t have the ability to predict the future, but we have the desire to find out before our time. And this desire doesn’t seem like a new human progression. Thousands of years ago the writer of Ecclesiastes talks about people – even wise people – having a desire to know what is before them. I think it’s natural to want to know the future, but I also believe that it is best for us not to know. Jesus reminds us not to focus on tomorrow, but concentrate on today; live in this moment before rushing onto the next. Our worry about the future can actually portray a lack of faith. If we truly believe that our future is in God’s hands, then we can have no concerns about what is to come. I know that my faith falters when it comes to this matter, but I am constantly reminded of God’s faithfulness as He brings me through each and every day.
Prayer: Lord, help us to stop living for the future and to focus on the now. Amen.
How do you feel about the future?
This article was written by Linda Bailey
Linda started theological studies in 1999 in Australia. After working for ten years in various church ministries, she now works as the breakfast producer at 89.9 LightFM - the Christian radio station in Melbourne, Australia. She writes blogs every day about passages she is currently reading in the Bible. Follow her on Google Plus +Linda Bailey or Facebook by clicking the like button on the right of this page.