Each generation receives prophetic words spoken over them by the fathers and mothers of faith from the generation before. Jan and I have received such words from people like Dick Mills, Jean Darnall, and others who carry a similar heart. They spoke hope-filled words about our future while that future was still distant and unexplored. In challenging times, we returned to those words and found direction for the path ahead.

When Jan and I began in ministry over four decades ago, we stepped into the uncharted landscape of our future. There were seasons when we wanted to give up and moments when we missed the mark. Yet along the way we discovered two things always waiting for us as we walked forward into the unknown.

First, the presence of God was already there in our future, waiting for us to arrive. Second, the fulfillment of those prophetic words of hope spoken over us by seasoned saints who had walked the path before us. Their encouragement became an invitation to come and taste the goodness of God.

Words of hope have no expiration date. They reside in our future, waiting to be grasped in faith and lived out with anticipation.