Throughout time prophets have existed and recorded things to warn people or give them hope about future events. The Bible is full of them. You also have people like Nostradamus or modern individuals who make predictions. I myself have had dreams and visions about what would happen in my own life and have seen them come to fruition.
Joel 2:28 prophesied of the last days: “that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”
I see a lot of people holding fast to this prophecy or that. They might cling tenaciously to one they feel is currently playing out; and they’re banking everything on that prophecy and what they think it says is coming next.
I have a word of caution to convey. In my experience it has not paid to be overzealous about any specific prophecy being played out at a given time or season. Yes, it may look like it’s totally happening by all indications, but if we get too invested in something being fulfilled the way we think it will be, we make mistakes. We contrive things and see things we think are part of it, and we start to try to manipulate outcomes or go into hyper preparedness. We might jump into things that aren’t healthy for us, get involved with the wrong people. We can make poor choices.
In my own life I have come to believe the visions and foreshadowing I’ve received were simply guideposts like me telling someone that they’ll turn onto our driveway and pass 3 green mailboxes and a specific colored house on the way. It’s not the job of the person following the directions to create the mailboxes or the house. It’s simply to notice and look for them as markers so they can see they’re on the right path.
I have also made some serious errors in judgement and poor choices believing something was the right time (or the right person) for what I had foreseen when it was not. Nothing I saw ahead of time could have helped me guess or predict how God would fulfill the promise.
In fact on the way to the fulfillment of it, EVERYTHING fell apart and looked IMPOSSIBLE. None of it happened the way I expected, but it did eventually happen… more difficult along the way than I expected — yet more joyous along the way as well. And the outcome was better than anything I could have imagined.
Bottom line… be aware of the signs of the times but don’t get too invested in WHEN, HOW, WHERE, or WHO ELSE will be involved. Take a watch and pray stance like you’re just looking for signposts and landmarks for where you’re traveling.
“Hmm… this looks familiar… I’ll stay close to the Lord, follow His directions, and see how this unfolds.”
Featured Image Credit: Isaiah Writes of Christ’s Birth (The Prophet Isaiah Foretells Christ’s Birth) by Harry Anderson (62339); GAK 113; GAB 22; Primary manual 6-49; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6–7
