Joining Kate Motaung’s Five-Minute-Friday Prompt on Monday. Kate chooses a word each week and we have five minutes to write on it. Confess, I took a little longer.

Ahead always has the connotation of preparing for something that is coming. Look ahead of your car on the road to determine if the traffic is flowing smoothly or if a dangerous situation is lurking in the traffic up ahead on the road. When planning events, one usually considers the number of guests coming, how much food you need, and plans ahead for unexpected occurrences such as more people showing up or that some will not be able to attend which might change the amount of food or seating one might need. Ahead always means “Be prepared for planned and unplanned” events.

Even in Scripture, God reveals the importance of looking ahead or going ahead of those you are leading. In Exodus 13:21, the Lord assures the Israelites that they will be safe because He is going ahead of them. “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.”

If God, who knows all things, declares the importance of having foresight for what is ahead, how much more important is it to us to plan out what could be ahead on our journeys, in our events, and in our decisions for the future. If God thought it important to go ahead of His people through wilderness country, shouldn’t we seek God’s presence to go before us into uncharted waters or even into what may feel familiar, realizing we do not know what the future holds.

Look Ahead, and see God!

From My Heart to Yours,

Janis Van Keuren