Tonight our youth group will load up in a bunch of vehicles and head out from the Church to a place the leaders call “destination unknown.” Tonight we forgo the lesson and head out for an evening of fun and adventure. Generally speaking, the teens enjoy it. It gets them out of the Church building, it breaks up the normal routine and they usually have fun.

Then I think about my children. There is one huge question that my older kids keep getting asked, “What are you going to do after high school?” One of them is finishing his junior year and another his sophomore year. There future is coming at them quickly and right now it is completely unknown.

Then I replay my life. I often wonder, “How did I get here?” If you had asked me as a junior in high school, “What are your long-term plans?,” I would have told you that I was thinking of being a taxidermist or working in the fur industry or how I hoped to do something outdoor related. Now I sit here in my office as a pastor of 20 years and currently living in Adrian Missouri. How in the world did I get here? My destination was completely unknown.

I also think of Israel. In the wilderness they followed a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night. They never knew how long they were going to stay in one place. They never knew the direction God was going to lead them. In one place in the Old Testament it states clearly that God did not take them by the direct route. It was always packing, moving and following – never completely sure where they were going. Their destination was completely unknown.

There is a line in Proverbs 20:24 that says, “A man’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?” I think the writer looked back over his life and saw God’s hand working even when the writer didn’t know it. I picture him shaking his head and saying to himself, “I don’t understand my own life journey.” He had undoubtedly ended up at a destination that has been completely unknown.

For me (and you), like those teenagers tonight, I have to trust that God will lead me in a direction that will be the best for me and for His kingdom. I also have to trust that God will lead my children in a direction that will be the best for them and for His kingdom. The life of faith is not about destination but simply following. So today I remind myself, “I don’t have any idea what the future holds, but I am thankful because I know who holds the future.”