Knowing

March 19, 2020

We often wonder what it would be like to be able to see into the future. When I was growing up in the fifties, Dick Tracy cartoons were a staple in the daily papers. Chester Gould first put pen to paper back in 1931, bringing to life his square-jawed detective; fifteen years later Tracy sported a wrist-radio, a product of Gould’s imagination that wouldn’t become reality until the Apple Watch debuted in 2014. 

We imagine seeing the future to be a great gift when in fact, it would more likely be a curse. While it might be beneficial when investing in the stock market or betting on horses, would you really want to know that you were going to be in a horrific car accident next week, or that you were destined to stand helplessly by, watching your child suffer through addiction, divorce, or death? These things happen, but the constant dread of knowing every bad thing that was coming our way would more than cancel out the joy of knowing the good things. We worry enough about the little we know; if the entire future were open to us, we would be in a continual panic. Years ago, Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone aired an episode where a soldier could see who was going to die in battle that day. When he looked at them, he would see them enveloped in light. Before nightfall, those soldiers were dead. Men came to him, desperate to know, but terrified when told. One morning while shaving, he saw his reflection in the mirror glowing, and knew that this day would be his last. Knowing is not necessarily a blessing.

That being said, it is good to know the future is not mere happenstance. It’s tempting to say God sees into the future, but in reality, with God, there is no future. Or past. All is present to him. One of the consequences of this is that with God, there is no such thing as uncharted territory. He sees it all. In John 10, Jesus speaks of himself as the Good Shepherd and of us as the sheep of his flock. In the fourth verse, says the good shepherd “goes before the sheep.” Whatever else this means, one thing for sure—there is no path we tread where he has not already gone. When going through hard times, it’s not just that he is with us; he has gone before us and knows the way. If I were a soldier walking through a minefield, I wouldn’t merely want someone walking alongside me; I’d want someone who has successfully walked through that field before; someone who knows where it’s safe and where it’s not. Someone merely beside me might detonate a mine that would maim or kill us both, but someone who has gone before knows.

We are walking today through what to us is uncharted territory. We don’t know how things will be tomorrow. A couple months ago, we dreamed, planned, and thought we knew. Now we know how much we don’t know. But Jesus Christ has gone before us, so even if we don’t know the way, it’s OK. He has been this way before, and will safely lead us to his destination. He goes before us. For this we can give thanks tonight.