I have been intrigued by the new show Flash Forward which is showing on TV. Channel 5's website has this description of it:

When a mysterious event causes the entire world to black out, humanity is given a glimpse into its near future, and every man, woman and child is forced to come to grips with whether their destinies can be avoided or fulfilled.

As a piece of entertaining television, this show is superb, finely acted with good action sequences and a reasonable ammount of humour. More than that though, 'Flash Forward' will be one of those rare TV programmes that makes us think. Our society is so used to living in the moment that many of us rarely consider the future. Thinking about the future will cause us to stop and evaluate what is important in life. It strikes me,that it is so easy to get caught up in how I feel in any given moment that I forget that God wants my life to be part of something greater. We need to find a way to be honest about how we feel, whilst retaining a sense that there is a bigger picture, that God is involved in my life and that he wants to work in me and through me.

In 'Flash Forward', many people are traumatised by what they see in their future and there is a scene in the second episode where we see lots of people walking around shell shocked as they come to terms with what they have seen in their futures. We can't see forwards, but we can look back. How many of us had hopes and dreams that have faded and vanished. Things we aspired to, ideals that were so central to who we are as individuals and now they are barely a memory.

There is a famous verse in the Bible 'For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope' (Jeremiah 29v11). People don't often realise that these words were written to the Jews who were living in exile in Babylon. Their exile was a consequence of their disobedience to God. Now God definitely did not want them to be disobedient, so although God has a good plan for our lives, it is clear that we have free will.