Are you focused on the past or on the future? Some people treasure the predictability of changelessness. The only problem with that focus is that virtually nothing satisfies it. Our world changes, as do customs, social patterns, our bodies, our abilities, the closeness of relationships, work environments, and even our ecology. If I could plan and control every Monday and Tuesday, they would be designated for rain and storms, and Wednesday through Sunday would be beautiful days with perfect weather and just enough breeze to keep things very comfortable for outdoor activities. (Unfortunately, God never consults with me about the weather!)

Change is inescapable. We must decide whether to trust God enough to welcome it, lean on Him as we adapt to it, and discern when we must stand our ground against it. It sounds so simple, but it is always a challenge.

But my wife and I have always held the future lightly in our hands. When I lived in Valley Ranch, I often told friends, “We always have a bag packed and a passport in hand for the day God tells us where He wants to send us.” Admittedly, that was much easier to say when we had no children or grandchildren, lived in a tiny 1-bedroom apartment, had virtually no roots, and no money! Deep in our hearts, we held the words of some of the most powerful hymns I ever learned:

“Where You lead, You know I’ll follow.”

“Wherever He leads, I’ll go. Wherever He leads, I’ll go. I’ll follow my Christ who loves me so. Wherever He leads, I’ll go.”

Those lyrics imply obedience, trust, change, and submission. I have never been disappointed with where He led me. Never.

And neither will you. Are you ready to follow where Jesus leads? Even if it’s unknown, different, challenging, unsettling?

Bruce Larson once said something that framed this for me. I was at the old Crystal Cathedral with my classmates from Fuller Seminary, and he was in the late years of his career.

A trapeze artist swings from point to point by hanging on a trapeze. The team will time the swings so that one artist can swing from one trapeze to the other. But the focal moment of excitement is when the artist releases one trapeze and hangs in the air, waiting to grasp the next trapeze. And we who follow Jesus demonstrate the most exciting days of following when we are “hanging between the trapezes” of the past and what is in the future.

For our church, we are entering that time. For my wife and I, we are entering that time. Will you be excited? Will you look to Jesus and wonder what He has in store? And will you prepare to trust Him as you “hang between the trapezes of the past and what is in the future?”