Predictions

Dear Victorious,

I saw a guy on TV the other night discussing his predictions for the New Year. They ranged from the marriages of celebrities to politics and the economy. Is this really appropriate? I mean, aren't Christians supposed to stay away from fortune-telling?

Dean S. - Longview, TX

Dear Dean,

Yes, Christians are supposed to stay away from fortune-telling. The Bible says we are not to regard the supernatural except that which is related to the Holy Spirit Himself. We are not to be entertained by the supernatural in any way either. I doubt very much whether the guy you saw on TV was really billing himself as a professional who has supernatural powers to predict the future. Even if he was, it's not likely that he was on TV for that purpose. More than likely, the TV show or station had him on more for entertainment value than anything.

Humans have an innate desire to know what's going to happen in the future. We don't like unanswered questions. And we seem to have a core belief that knowing something about the future will enable us to do something about the future. So if anyone credible seems to have any insight about the future, we tend to stop and listen to them. (After all, you listened to this guy on TV!) While this may be fun or interesting, it really holds little value.

The only way we can truly know what to do in the New Year is by talking to our heavenly Father and asking Him to guide our steps. If we'll let Him, God will direct our thinking, our decisions and our reactions as things unfold in our futures. But God rarely lets us see or know more than we need to see or know. In other words, it is proven by God's nature and character, as well as our (i.e., His followers) experience with him over the centuries --- that God doesn't show us much of the future except on a "need-to-know" basis. So to put it bluntly, true Christ-followers usually have to learn to live with ambiguity - not knowing what's going to happen this year - but trusting that God has prepared us to deal with whatever happens.