Who holds the future?
This week I got a package of pictures in the mail from a family member, most of them more tha 30 years old, containing family members who passed away a long time ago. I enjoyed walking through the pictures with my kids, until this one stopped me and my tracks.
This is my dad's school picture from around 1995, when he was almost the exact same age I am today. When I picture him in my mind this is how I think of him most often. Before he lost a lot of weight to cancer, before age, stress, and life took its toll in so many ways. I was 15 years old at the time, and now I have my own 15 year-old. It's strange to think of him dealing with all the pressures of life, like raising children, aging parents, job stress, and more.
About 10 years after this picture he would have his bout with cancer, the first of many major health scares over the last portion of his life. In these years, though, he was relatively healthy, and claimed to never miss a day of work for being sick, much like I would think of myself today.
It reminds me that we don't know what the future holds. My dad faced challenges sure, but also lived 30 more years after this picture. He didn’t know that the next decades of his life would involve cancer, a ruptured aorta, and too many other health scares to count. He also saw all five of his children married, numerous grandchildren, and great grandchildren. He lost both his parents, retired from his job of 40+ years, and traveled the world sharing the gospel. Like everyone, his life contained ups and downs, but I don't think he would trade any of it.
All that say, it's easy to look back, and almost impossible to look forward. I’d like to think I’ve got my next 30 years mapped out, but my fathers life shows me there’s no way I can know anything with certainty. Nor can you, of course. Who knows what your future holds, either good or bad. All we can do is live in the moment God has given us. So today, love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And love your neighbor too. If we can do that, when our loved ones see our pictures decades later, I think they will smile and tear up at the memories too.
As the saying goes. “I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds the future.“ Past and present, it's all in God’s hands.
