Around the Corner

I like to know what's coming. Some people prefer the element of surprise, and they tackle life with the posture of someone in the front seat of a roller coaster: eyes open, arms up, screams of excitement. They don't mind that they can't see the impossibly steep drop that appears after ambling through the dark tunnel. That just makes it more adventurous. They greet the drop with shouts of exuberance. I'm not so much this way. In fact, if someone was kind enough to take me on a preliminary walking tour of the roller coaster route, mapping out the drops and hairpin turns and upside down loops and preparing me for the unexpected jolts, I would welcome it. Then I could ride the roller coaster having been adequately prepared. Of course, that begs the question of whether I would proceed to actually ride the roller coaster if I knew it was going to slam me against the side of the car on that hairpin turn or hang me upside down on a double loop. Maybe I would walk away and opt for driving the Model T's that follow a scenic and safe track at 5 miles per hour. I've always liked those.

These days, I feel like I'm walking in the dark, wondering what might be around the next corner - maybe a drop or a hairpin turn. I'm working on this "one day at a time" idea, and it's going pretty well. I'm getting better at not worrying about tomorrow because "tomorrow has enough trouble of its own." I'm learning to suck the life out of today so that I don't spend all my time regretting yesterday or stressing about tomorrow. But there are those days when I just would really like a walking tour of all that lies ahead. I'd like to map out the scary moments, the dark days, the anxious hours. If I just knew what was coming that would make life so much easier. It's a tempting thought, but I know it's not true. How many times would I have locked myself in my bedroom if I had known what was getting ready to happen? Or not taken that trip. Or not begun that relationship. If I had known about all the tough times that were around this corner or that corner I would have run the other way. And, I would have never known what it means to walk by faith.

My wedding program (almost nineteen years old now) is a tri-fold and on the center fold is printed this poem:

"God does not lead us year by year,
Nor even day by day,
But step by step our path unfolds,
Our Lord directs our way.

Tomorrow's plans we do not know,
We only know this minute.
But He will say, 'This is the way,
By faith now walk ye in it.

And we are glad that it is so;
Today is ours to share,
And when tomorrow comes, his grace
Shall far exceed its care.

What need to worry then or fret?
The God who have His only Son
Holds all our moments in His hand
And gives them one by one."

So I'm learning that thank God for those moments - whether they are good, or bad. Whether they slam me against the side of the car or send me reeling up into the air gasping for breath. He's with me every step, ready to sustain me for whatever is around the next corner.