It never fails to inspire me how many people have found my devotional book Daily Prayer and its sequel Daily Prayer 2 to be of encouragement, help and inspiration. The number of letters and messages I’ve received thanking me for these is truly humbling, and they inspire me, in turn, in my continued writing. Here’s a session from Daily Prayer 2that I hope may speak to you.
I know who holds the future
Read
Do not give heed to soothsayers and diviners; the Lord your God does not permit you to do so. Deuteronomy 18:14
Ponder
‘I use playing cards to tell my fortune,’ someone had written to an online discussion forum, ‘but somebody warned me against it. What’s so wrong? Can fortune-telling have a bad impact on your life?’ The consensus of opinion in response was that the practice is perfectly innocent and does no harm to anybody.
So are they right or wrong? No doubt fortune-telling and horoscopes can indeed be a harmless bit of a fun, so long, that is, as we take them not just with a pinch of salt but with a veritable bucketload. The problem is that some people are more gullible than we might imagine and actually believe supposed clairvoyants, to the point of pinning their hopes on what they say and even basing decisions and actions upon them.
More fool them, we might say; there’s no danger of me being so foolish. But Christians aren’t immune from wanting to know the future, and can indulge in equally dubious forms of superstition. Some, for example, flick open the Bible and pluck out a verse at random, believing that God will speak through it and offer guidance for the way ahead. Some invest empty words with the status of prophecy, God effectively being used to rubber-stamp their own pious hopes or wishful thinking. More common still has been the predilection among Christians to dwell on end times, confidently predicting that the last days are upon us and urging us to act accordingly. The truth of the matter, however, is this: none of us knows what the future holds, and to give credence to anyone who claims otherwise is to set ourselves up for a fall. Only God knows what lies in store, and if we’ve any sense we put our trust in him and leave it at that.
Ask yourself
What do you think of predictions concerning end times? Are horoscopes, fortune-telling and the like just a harmless bit of fun? In what ways does your faith speak to you concerning the future?
Pray
Almighty God, I’d love assurances as to the future. I’d like to know that my hopes will come to fruition and my fears not be realised; that I will enjoy good health, security, fulfilling relationships and happiness in general. And there are plenty to tell me just what I want to hear, so long as they profit from doing so. But the fact is that, in this life, I cannot know what’s in store for me, whether for good or ill, and neither can anyone else. Such matters are in your hands and yours alone. Help me to live by faith, trusting that whatever life brings you will be with me in it, sharing in times of joy and supporting in moments of sorrow. Amen.
Remember
Our hope is in the living God, the one who saves all people, particularly those who put their trust him. 1 Timothy 4:10b
Close
Teach me, Lord, to live today trusting in your tomorrow, to embrace the present secure in the knowledge of your past faithfulness and leaving the future to you. Amen.