Just Around The Bend…

Being the adventure-crazed individual that I am, the thought is continually on my mind: I wonder what is just around that next bend up there…Now this may apply to a simple drive down a road I’ve never ventured down before, a canoe trip down some previously unknown waterway, a hike on a mountain trail that I just had to experience for myself, or any other adventure on the road of life that just seems to call my name and beg for my first-hand realization. Recently, I had the privilege to serve as a guide for two just-graduated-from-high-school guys on a three-day fishing excursion to a few of the Ozark streams that I have become acquainted with and affectionate towards over the past few years. From the time the dust kicked up on the dirt drive way as we put our little hometown in the rear-view mirror to the time we arrived at our temporary home away from home in the Ozark hills, these young adventure-bound guys that remind me so much of myself were intrigued by what was waiting…Just around the bend.

The predetermined plan for Day 1 was to dub it “Catch Your Own Supper Day”. With its endless supply of rocks and boulders and swift water, the first day’s destination was the polar opposite of our lazy, slow-moving, muddy bottomed bayous and streams here in Louisiana. The brand-new experience of it all had graduates acting like kindergartners all over again. As they waded through the rapids, they predicted and imagined what was…just around the bend! “I bet it’s a pretty hole of water”…”There’s bound to be a big smallmouth up there”…”Oooh, I bet it gets deep up there!”. These were some of the supposings offered by the guys, and by the time the sun had made its pilgrimage across the sky that day, supper had been caught and only two days of adventure remained. And of course, that night was filled with more wonderings of what the next two days would hold in store!

Days 2 and 3 took us to new rivers and new predictions of what lay…Just around the bend. Canoes almost flipped, lures became residents of the river, and laughs echoed through the hills as the adventure junkies discovered all that awaited them…Just around the bend. Then, almost in the blink of an eye, it was time to go back home where new obstacles certainly await these guys…Just around the bend. One is off to college. One is off to work. Each of those paths contain excitements and disappointments…Just around the bend. And such is the case for all of us mortals living on this ball of dirt and water that revolves around the great ball of fire in the sky. Regardless of our stage in life, we never really can be sure of what awaits us…Just around the bend.

Pliny the Elder rightly asserted that The only certainty is that nothing is certain. That’s the way life goes. We can plan and prepare and pray, but there’s no guarantee things will turn out the way we envision them in the crystal ball of our minds. This fact alone is why it is so important for us to take the uncertainty of our lives and trust it to the absolute certainty of Jesus Christ. I will never know what lies…Just around the bend, but knowing that the God I trust and serve is timeless and is already there brings great courage, confidence, and calmness to my otherwise unstable and uncertain outlook. James accurately states that …you don’t even know what will happen tomorrow…you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. (James 4:14). Friends, we are here for just a little while, and we never know what lies…Just around the bend. We get one shot at this thing called life, so doesn’t it make sense that we trust God to guide us through whatever lies…Just around the bend?

I am confident that both of my high school graduates now turned super-heroes will achieve success in their futures. As there are for all of us, there will be unexpected twists and bumps in the road, but I sure hope they remember forever the adventure we took together and always remain anxious to see what life has for them…Just around the bend. After all, if there’s never any anticipation of what tomorrow holds, we lose our passion for living all-together, and that’s never a good thing! So whether it’s on a lazy Louisiana bayou or an Ozark stream with rocky rapids, looking for the adventure that awaits us…Just around the bend, I’ll see you in the Great Outdoors!