I recently got back from the trip of a lifetime to Germany and London! Packing for it was hard because while there we would be doing a bunch of random and different activities ranging from business meetings to hiking. Let me start out by saying packing is not my strong point. I pretty much go through everything I own and decide whether or not it’s worth taking. This makes for a very thorough, but also very annoying, packing experience.
On this trip there wouldn’t be any room for clothes I didn’t need because we would be carrying our luggage for miles and up flights of stairs so high I think my ears almost popped. I wanted to pack light, I really did. But I had so many questions. What would the weather be like? What would I be comfortable in? Do I really need that? Would I be thankful I brought this or would it even matter?
All of the questions can be narrowed down to one: What do I need to insure my future-self is happy?
There really wasn’t a concrete answer to this. This is partly because the weather would vary and we’d need different things for different events, but it is mainly because I don’t know my future self. I couldn’t be absolutely certain about what I would want in unknown, future circumstances.
As frustrating as this was to me, I realized that’s just one part of life. In every decision we make we know it will affect our future. Therefore, we’re constantly trying to make decisions that satisfy our present and future selves.
The bad news is that’s really hard to do. How many times have you looked back on a picture or recalled a memory and thought “WHY DID I DO/THINK/WEAR THAT?”? (an example of this is when I was 4 and named all of my stuffed animals names that rhymed with Ellie, such as, Nellie, Kelly, Jelly, Snellie, and Zellie. I wish I was kidding.) We don’t know the future circumstances and we don’t know our future-selves.
The good news is we don’t have to know.
Proverbs 24:12 says “Does not He who guards your life know it?…” We are forever in His hands if we choose to be.
I bet so many of us have been able to quote Proverbs 3:5,6 since we were little but how many times do we recall it in a time when we don’t know or don’t understand?
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him.
And He will make your path straight.”
When you don’t know what you don’t know you’re actually in a really good place because you’re forced to rely on the One who knows. Trust in the One who knows your future. Trust that He not only knows future circumstances but He also knows you best. You don’t have to know – and that is a beautiful thing.
LVL 