"We think we are headed toward the future. The truth is, the future is headed toward us." So says author Reggie McNeal in his book, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church. Reggie was the theme speaker at a denominational assembly I was present at, a few years ago. Reggie reminded us that rather than slowing down, scientist know that the universe is actually speeding up. We try to figure out what's going on in the now; we think the past will inform us, help us. But that's not the case, Reggie told us.

It's not so because God is creating history ahead of us. We are misguided to think history is something in the past. His Story, God's Story is something that's coming, something new, something that's gradually unfolding in a great and glorious plan. So God doesn't guess and tell us to guess with Him, wondering together what on earth is going on, not to mention in the whole realm of stars and planets and galaxies. "God always broadcasts," says Reggie. I think, if I think, that he's correct in this assertion. It's the Christian doctrine of Providence. I believe the Bible teaches this, said it first.

For God knows the end, not because He simply knows the end but because He is creating an end - and moving us, the world, the universe forward towards this designated end. There may be many ends (from our perspective), possibilities, options, frustrations, failures, wins, road-blocks - but God is not biting God's nails, wondering how things will all turn out. He's read the last chapter (no, but we can: see Revelation); rather, He's written, is writing, the last chapter.

Says MacNeil: God "began with the end in mind. The future is always incipient in the present." He continues: "The Cross gains dimension silhouetted against the empty tomb. The empty tomb confirmed the invasion of the future into the present. When Paul encountered the resurrected Jesus, he realized the future had been fast-forwarded. That changed everything."

The future - fast-forwarded: I like that. I may not know what's going on, what's ahead. I may read it wrong, get it wrong, confuse inspiration with my interpretation. But I am convinced that God is in control (perhaps sometimes with all the seeming evidence against it) and that the best and even the worst will somehow be woven together into a tapestry that will keep us astounded for a good measure of Eternity.