Isaiah 42:9 “See, the former things have taken place,
    and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
    I announce them to you.”

God does let us know some things ahead of time, and the fact that He can do that is one of the many proofs that He is indeed God. However, there are many risks to that. One is that some of the things He tells us are conditional, such as what He told Jonah about Ninevah. They repented, so He didn’t do what He had said. In that way, some of the things He tells us are warnings: if you don’t straighten up, this will happen. And of course, the devil is always a liar, and he talks to us too. “Fortune tellers” exist in almost every culture, because we have quite a thirst to know the future, but seeking such always opens us up to deception and worse. This isn’t the same as seeing trends and making forecasts; that is applicable for a wide variety of things, from the weather to the stock market, but there is a high variability in accuracy there. God alone absolutely knows the future, and we need to be comfortable with that. We are to pay attention when He shows us things, either through the Bible or otherwise, but we aren’t to be demanding advance knowledge of things, but rather trust Him to have good plans and bring them about.

This is an area where I don’t think I’ve been terribly tempted, and I’m grateful. I find Revelation to be more reassuring than scary, in contrast to a number of people I’ve run into. I know I’m on the winning side, whatever happens in the meantime! There are a number of things in my life I might have done differently had I known more, or paid attention more, in advance, but God has used even my mistakes to grow me and bless me in various ways. Right now, I’m inconvenienced by the fact that I left my Bible at the church yesterday, so I had to get my wife to tell me what today’s reading was, but this is a strong reminder that I need to install the cloud service I use on this computer, since I have the relevant file there. It is also a reminder that in this day and age I don’t necessarily need to carry my printed Bible around. If I’m preaching, it is a major convenience, since it is bilingual, but otherwise, electronic forms are convenient. At the same time, I don’t want to be totally dependent on technology. The point, always, is to be humbly submitted to my Lord, listen carefully to what He tells me, and act in full gratitude and obedience.

Father, thank You for this reminder, and for what You’re teaching me day by day. Thank You for my misstep in driving yesterday, that led me to an inexpensive place to buy gasoline before the trip home today. Thank You for Your beautiful anointing in the interpreting yesterday, just as we had prayed. I ask for your anointing again today. May I not be presumptive or puffed up, but humbly allow You to use me to build up the Body of Christ, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!