I like to guess what will happen in the future. I would like to be a prophet. I hate to be caught unprepared. The problem is my prophesy track record is terrible and by Old Testament standards worthy of a rock or two. Nonetheless, I tend to believe my intuitions, especially ones that are more apocalyptic.  

It makes sense why I am wired this way. My family’s generational line has apocryphal type personal disasters, ones that devastate people. The new science on DNA shows how these traumas reverberate through the generations. It’s easy to understand why I search out potential doom and gloom.  

But the trouble with prophesy and especially false prophesy, is that it’s hard on life and on relationships. It’s depressing, lonely, and confusing. Like MacBeth in Shakespeare’s powerful drama, a premonition turned true can be a doorway into being damningly deceived.  

I think of Billy Graham, so convinced Christ would return in his lifetime. My parents almost didn’t have children because they believed so fully in the teachings of that time. Songs like “I Wish We‘d All Been Ready,” scared many by their message. 

I can go down this road of fear… war with China, economic crisis, scarcity. Or I can praise the Lord. This is the best future preparation. I release my hold on “knowing the future” and instead hold my hands to the Lord with trust and hope.  

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3:5-6 

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