Although I have 20/20 hindsight, when I look into the future, I can't see
farther than the next step. God made the world work that way and He did it
for a good reason.
Our future is in our hands, and we can make it into anything we want. If we
knew what was going to happen ahead of time, our life would become a rerun.
Foreknowledge would blunt the thrill of victory and magnify the agony of
defeat.
After I arrived in New Zealand on my catamaran, I purchased a van that I
used to tour the country. While touring on the north island, I rolled the
van and nearly died in the accident. I broke two legs, five ribs, one
scapula, punctured one lung, and ended up in the hospital for two months.
Before this accident I had just spent six months sailing across the Pacific
Ocean with my family. We explored the marvels of the Galapagos Islands and
discovered the glories of Polynesian paradise. Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji
revealed their wonders as our catamaran sailed west. By the time our anchor
was down in New Zealand, we had sailed on the ocean of our dreams, and life
was good.
If I had know ahead of time about the car accident, the entire trip across
the Pacific would have been a countdown to disaster. Instead of reveling in
our cruising dreams, I would have been focusing on future pain.
God in his mercy gives us enough strength to live our dreams each day, but
He doesn't load the future into our backpack and force us to carry that
burden. Instead, He parcels out our life one day at a time and gives us the
courage to take the next step.
