I have to say - I like time-travel movies. I don't know if it's because it is a true break from reality, or just the imagination that it takes to make a time-travel movie seem. . . well, seamless. I've recently gone back and watched a few films from the early 80's and 90's: Timecop, Back to the Future, Peggy Sue Got Married, etc. Incidentally, apparently back a decade ago, no one could foresee the internet. Not one mention of Google in these early movies, and the silver jumpsuits never really caught on, maybe next year.
That being said, the main theme usually centers around changing the past so that a mistake that was made could be fixed. Somehow, by changing one or two instances, life would be so much better for the main character. Foregoing the obvious dangers of the time-space continuum and mass taking up the same space, having your future self warn you of mistakes that could change the rest of your life, seems to be a situation that draws in an audience. The allure of "what could have been" or "if I had only known".
Scientists spend long hours trying to develop this "future" experiment only to realize that the ripple effect could be catastrophic. It makes for good entertainment, but . . . 'what if?'
What if there was a way that our future self could go back and tell our past self - "Hey, that's not a good idea. When you lie about being sick to your boss and then in two weeks you really are sick and you take off and lose your job - just tell the truth" - there is a way, and it's something better....
God knows what the future holds. The answer to "what's the best decisions I can make so that my future self is right where it should be?" is simple - prayer. If we would stop and simply ask God to guide our decisions so that the choices we make are in line with what God wants - how could we want for anything more (“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” (Psalm 32:8) Who knows us and wants the absolute best for us: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
He promises us in Isaiah that he will guide us - “The Lord will guide you continually …” (Isaiah 58:11)
The only thing is, we have to ask. We don't need an old DeLorean or a flux capacitor, we don't need a black hole, a wormhole or even a hot tub. All we need is Jesus.
