In the TV show, FlashForward, a global blackout occurs, killing 20 million people as cars crash, airplanes and helicopters fall from the sky, people drown, fall to their death, etc. Those that survive have an amazing experience. They actually see 6 months into the future. And not just any future, but their own future. Their consciousness actually jumps ahead to a specific date 6 months later, where each individual sees what they were doing at that moment.
For one, he saw himself watching the news, and remembered what he saw. Another man saw his daughter in a cot in Afghanistan as he was helping nurse her back to health. She was supposedly dead for two years. Another woman saw herself getting a prenatal sonogram. She isn’t pregnant and wondered who the father would be. A young doctor who was dying of a terminal cancer saw himself in a restaurant with a beautiful young lady. He remembers the emotions he felt and it gave him hope. Still, another woman saw herself being drowned by someone else, and remembers dying in her FlashForward. Another man saw himself in his office being attacked by armed men. Still another woman saw herself with a man that was not her husband, and she remembers intense feelings that she had.
Lastly, another young man didn’t see anything at all, and determined that the reason is because he would be dead in less than 6 months.
Everyone had an experience where they saw their future. Have you ever wondered what your future would be like? What if you actually saw your future? What if you actually caught a glimpse of your own future? How would you respond? What emotions would you feel? Would you be happy by what you saw? Would you be sad? Excited? Fearful? Perhaps it would be too much of a wake up call, to actually see our future.
In this series we talked about three main areas where our choices greatly affect our futures. There are certainly many more avenues we could have gone with this concept, but the three that we talked about specifically at Adrenaline were pertinent to our students.
1. 6 Months of Nothingness
For some, choices they make to be lazy, not really do a whole lot, etc. will lead them to a realization that they have just wasted 6 months. The months have come and gone, and they have nothing to show for it!
It’s easy to get caught up in this “nothingness” kind of life. Nothingness can be described like a comfortable bed. It’s easy to get in and tough to get out of. We covered two areas of “nothingness” that I think affect many people in the church.
A. Nothingness toward God. Many people find it easy to just do the bare minimum to get by, without ever really sacrificing anything to get close to God. 6 months of nothingness toward God results in spiritual stagnation, boredom, and complacency. Another word is apathetic. You just don’t care. If you are at a place where you really don’t care about God, take a look and see if you have done anything about your relationship with Him.
B. Nothingness toward Destiny. It amazes me how many people wait for something to happen to show them, tell them, lead them to a future that God has planned for them. It’s as if they think that destiny is automatic.
I think of this student I saw on the Ellen show, named Greyson Chance. Here is a 12 year old kid with an incredible singing voice. Looking at him, he is that awkward 12 year old that is still growing up. He competed in a talent contest at his middle school, and his performance was put up on youtube. That video has more than 22 million views as of this writing. The kid performed twice on the Ellen show, the first time with an encouragement from Lady Gaga (the singer of the song he performed at the talent show) and the second time performing a song that he wrote, landing him $10,000 from Ellen, a brand new piano from Yamaha, and a record deal on a new label.
This kid has a gift, and didn’t just wait for someone to discover him. He actually competed in a contest, and his youtube performance went viral, launching him into destiny. The point is, he did something. He didn’t just sit and wait for it to happen. It’s much easier to turn a car that is moving than one that isn’t. Destiny is not automatic, get out there and do SOMETHING, and along the journey, God will open the doors.
Read FlashForward Part 2 and FlashForward Part 3 of this series
