The One Who Holds The Future

A friend of mine recently posted a twenty seven year-old photo of us on Facebook from a trip we took to New York City with two other friends---one of whom was my roommate, Greg (the guy in the leather jacket and cool hat).  

The photo was taken on top of one of the towers of the World Trade Trade center, marking the beginning of an epic trip to the city, upstate New York and eventually Toronto.  I was just twenty two years old in that photo--younger than my oldest son.    

Just over ten years after this photo was taken the World Trade Center would be destroyed on 9/11. Thirteen years later, at age 39, my old roommate Greg would lose his life in a tragic motorcycle accident, brought on by a drunk driver.   

If the passer-by who took our photo that day had been from the future and took the time to tell me that those things would come to pass, I would have never believed it.    

Standing on top of those seemingly indestructible buildings, I would have never imagined that both towers would be gone one day.  I would have also never imagined that people could hate so much.  

I also could have never dreamed that my friend Greg, who was so full of life, energy and passion would be gone in just a few short years as well--his life cut short far too soon.  

We don't know what the future holds, and perhaps blissfully so.  Because if we knew the hardships we would face, the losses and the grief---we might choose to never move forward.  

Likewise, if we knew how challenging it would be to achieve our dreams, the sacrifices and the twists and turns that lead to our greatest joys, we might choose to never begin the journey--despite the rewards.  

Instead, those of us who choose to follow Jesus need to embrace each moment of the journey as a gift--even the moments that bring us to our knees in grief.  All of our moments are part of our own story, and our story is also part of God's great big Story, which is being lovingly and beautifully written in ways that are often hard to comprehend.  

And so we trust, and we keep walking.  Because even though we don't know what the future holds, we are walking in the footsteps of the One who holds our future.  

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.