I was hiking the trails above our home and saw a man approaching. He was walking with his head down, appearing bent over. He could only see what was immediately before him. The trail was moist from rain and allowed for quiet hiking. I decided to see how close I could get to the man before he saw me.

As the man approached me in his bent-over posture, we were no more than a couple of steps apart when, out of his peripheral vision, he finally looked up and, with a startled look on his face, was surprised to see me. 

Many are walking forward in their faith, aware only of what is just in front of them. They see only what is immediate, not what is coming. When future events come upon them, they will be like the man I saw approaching me on the trail. They will be startled by the fear of what they walked into completely unaware of its presence.

We are entering a time when walking in a heads-up posture of faith is imperative. The words of prophecy revealed in Scripture and the words of prophecy being spoken by the prophets of our day are what keep our heads up and aware of the future we are walking into. To walk forward without knowing what is coming will create unnecessary fear when the future suddenly comes upon us. 

As Peter was explaining what happens when we hear the voice of God, “Because of that experience, we have even greater confidence in the message proclaimed by the prophets. You must pay close attention to what they wrote, for their words are like a lamp shining in a dark place” (II Peter 1:19).

Our faith provides illumination and awareness regarding the future if we are aware of what the prophets have foretold. Because Peter and the other disciples heard the voice of the Lord, they had confidence in the future because they were aware of what would happen. They were walking forward with heads-up foreknowledge, not bent over in ignorance and a lack of future sight.

We must pay close attention to what the prophets have said in Scripture and what current day prophets are saying in this season. With that knowledge, we will walk forward with our heads upright in faith because we see prophetically what is approaching.