From here I can see tomorrow,<\/p>\n
From here I can see the shore,<\/p>\n
From here I can see the future,<\/p>\n
But I ask myself, what for?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
Somewhere between curse and blessing<\/p>\n
Between help and hindrance<\/p>\n
Is knowing what\u2019s coming<\/p>\n
Preparing for the dance.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Would you want to know the outcome,<\/p>\n
If it turned out you would lose?<\/p>\n
Would you want to know the verdict,<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s not what you would choose?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Would you want to know the future, <\/p>\n
If it ends badly for those you love?<\/p>\n
Would you want to know the future<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s a vulture, not a dove?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
But what if the future\u2019s not totally fixed<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s still time for a change?<\/p>\n
What if it\u2019s not all written in stone,<\/p>\n
And hope\u2019s not out of range?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
What if God only gives us glimpses<\/p>\n
Of what will someday be,<\/p>\n
But he let\u2019s us fill in the blanks<\/p>\n
Between here and eternity?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
What if we have a role to play<\/p>\n
In the grander scheme of things,<\/p>\n
What if we have at least some say,<\/p>\n
In who will wear the rings?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
What if God only reveals<\/p>\n
Enough of the future today<\/p>\n
To give us hope and encouragement<\/p>\n
But not remove the need to pray?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
What if we see through a glass darkly,<\/p>\n
And most of the objects aren\u2019t clear,<\/p>\n
Things look closer in the mirror,<\/p>\n
Than they actually are from here?<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Pundits and prognosticators<\/p>\n
The weather men of time,<\/p>\n
Are often over-confident<\/p>\n
Ridiculous, not sublime.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Take predicting the return of Jesus,<\/p>\n
Many have boldly bet,<\/p>\n
They all have one thing in common,<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve never been right\u2014yet.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
When you have that sort of failure rate<\/p>\n
Reticence is required<\/p>\n
Lest you be dubbed false prophet,<\/p>\n
Your predictor\u2019s license expired.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The prophecies raises expectations<\/p>\n
That God will see things through<\/p>\n
They don\u2019t encourage calculations,<\/p>\n
Which tell God when he\u2019s due.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Prophecy is not about calculation<\/p>\n
Nor prognostication at all<\/p>\n
Those are human preoccupations<\/p>\n
Not part of the Almighty\u2019s call<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Prophecy is about God\u2019s promise<\/p>\n
That all will be well one day,<\/p>\n
It does not tell us when or where<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not for us to say.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Prophecy paints the big picture,<\/p>\n
Of justice and mercy at last,<\/p>\n
It does not give us the co-ordinates<\/p>\n
It does not say how fast.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a reason for this reticence<\/p>\n
God\u2019s in control of time<\/p>\n
He has not handed us the helm,<\/p>\n
Only He knows the reason and rhyme.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Only he knows what is best for all of us,<\/p>\n
Only he knows when to bring it to pass<\/p>\n
Only he knows where it\u2019s all going,<\/p>\n
And how long it ought to last. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
God will never make our lives<\/p>\n
So we don\u2019t need to trust<\/p>\n
He will never make his creatures<\/p>\n
So that prayer is not a must.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We will always be his creatures<\/p>\n
Who must rely on his loving care<\/p>\n
I am sure he is tired of our asking<\/p>\n
\u201cAren\u2019t we already almost there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
When faith finally becomes sight,<\/p>\n
And hopes are realized,<\/p>\n
When the eschatological dust clears<\/p>\n
And we see with new creation eyes<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
There will be one thing left standing<\/p>\n
That we\u2019ve been trusting all along,<\/p>\n
A loving God\u2019s desire and ability<\/p>\n
To finish his own love song.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The reason love is yet greater<\/p>\n
Than faith or even hope,<\/p>\n
Is because it endures forever<\/p>\n
And enables us to cope.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Climb down from your own seer\u2019s tower<\/p>\n
Place your life in the Father\u2019s hands,<\/p>\n
For he always knows what\u2019s best for us,<\/p>\n
And he gives what he commands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stop writing fear-based fiction<\/p>\n
It needs to be left behind<\/p>\n
It dishonors our loving Maker<\/p>\n
Abandons the faith-based design.<\/p>\n
Someday we will see our Savior<\/p>\n
Someday we will know, as we’re known,<\/p>\n
In the meantime stop playing God,<\/p>\n
And leave the future alone.<\/p>\n
When Christ returns let him find you,<\/p>\n
Doing what he made us for,<\/p>\n
Loving people into the kingdom,<\/p>\n
Feeding and clothing the poor.<\/p>\n
Inasmuch as you’ve done it unto the least of these,<\/p>\n
You’ve done it unto the Lord,<\/p>\n
Let him find you imitating his actions,<\/p>\n
Not frightening the faithful but bored.<\/p>\n
Let him who runs read the writing<\/p>\n
That’s written on the wall,<\/p>\n
‘Take up y
\nour cross and follow me,<\/p>\n
Sacrifice and serve them all’.<\/p>\n
‘Parting is all we know of heaven,<\/p>\n
And all we need of hell’*,<\/p>\n
Those who simply trust the Lord,<\/p>\n
Will find that they’ve done well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
July 20 2007<\/p>\n
BW3<\/p>\n
<\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n * E. Dickinson– Poem 96, “My Life Closed Twice…”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From here I can see tomorrow, From here I can see the shore, From here I can see the future, But I ask myself, what for? Somewhere between curse and blessing Between help and hindrance Is knowing what\u2019s coming Preparing for the dance. Would you want to know the outcome, If it turned out you…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n