Working in the prophetic I'm often asked about the future and whether I've got insight into future events. It taps into a genre of the prophetic that only focuses on the future. There is so much more to being prophetic than just being able to foretell future events.
I've also found it's so easy to focus purely on the future when listening for and to prophetic words. In fact, I believe as a culture we're so infatuated with the future that we have lost the ability to hold the present well. It's like the only thing important in the prophetic word is what is about to be, not what is.
I meet with so many people that are messed up by their past and so anxious about the future. All they want is hope, to know the days ahead are going to be better than the days behind. So here's a thing... If you want to know where you're going, you first need to understand where you've been. If you can understand where you've been, you will come to a place in the present where you can step out of in strength and authority.
Understanding your past is not only a very good thing to do in living a healthy life and and having strong relationships, it's a powerful thing to do in understanding your identity. When you can understand your identity, seeing the future becomes a whole lot more clearer.
Here's another thing I've found: What you have overcome in your life is often what you have authority to speak into other people's lives. You have learned how to overcome, and through this, others will be drawn to you to learn the lessons that you carry. So when you then look to the future, look to see who God is drawing to you and you will see some of the very things that you will be doing.
When Jesus told us to love others as he has loved us, He was future telling. He was telling you that there are relationships coming in your future that will require a love that you alone carry. Often these lessons for you are learned the hard way, as you have struggled understanding your identity, your past and your authority. There are people all around you that are desperately seeking the love that you carry, in the way that you alone carry it.
So when we decide we are going to 'future tell', let us do so with the lens of our identity that has been shaped by all we have been through and manifested in the love that we carry.
Matt