OCTOBER 2007

Dear Mt. Olive Family and Friends!

I had forgotten what fun it is! I used to go fishing often with my dad when I was little. As a pastor, I enjoyed fishing when we lived in rural Minnesota too. But it’s been quite some time since I put a line in the water.

While at Camp Croix last month, I spent a few hours with my son on beautiful Lake Rooney. And the fish were biting! Lots of them! Some even large enough to make it to the frying pan!

It became clear to me why so many people love to fish. It’s because of the unknown! It’s because each tug on the hook, each strike on the lure, is a mystery. Reeling in each catch is an adventure. On the end of the line is a surprise every time. That’s what makes fishing fun!

What would be the excitement if each fish were exactly the same, and each fishing hole produced identical results? What kind of adrenaline rush could there possibly be if each cast resulted in the same, identical fish?

The fun and excitement of fishing is in the fact that you don’t know what’s on the other end of the line until you get it into the boat.

For the same reason, I used to love to buy grab bags! I would buy several of them for the sheer joy of discovering what was inside. In most cases, I probably wouldn’t have even considered purchasing the items that I got, but because the contents of the grab bag were hidden treasures, I enjoyed the unknown. Why don’t more stores sell grab bags!?

Fishing and grab bags. The adventure is in the hidden mystery. The excitement is in the unknown.

I remember fondly Forest Gump: “My momma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.’”

What makes fishing exciting, grab bags enjoyable, and life like a box of chocolates is the simple joy of the unknown.

Today’s world has been emptied of so much of that simple joy by modern technology. So much of what was formerly hidden and mysterious is now boringly available. New parents not only know the gender of their unborn baby, but practically everything else there is to know too. When was the last time you heard a proud papa call from the delivery room “It’s a girl!” He knew it several months earlier.

Seems to me, the harder we work at peering into the future, the more we rob ourselves of life’s little excitements. The more we mess with what was formerly known only to God, the more ordinary and routine and blasé life becomes.

I know, there have been many times when I’ve wished I could see into the future. Many times when I would have loved to see what was around the corner, over the next hill, behind the trees, beyond the horizon. But the Lord has kept much of the future hidden. And for good reason. Not to keep us wandering aimlessly in obscurity, but to keep us trusting in Him. Not to keep life full of unknown fears, but to keep life exciting and packed with adventure. Not to keep us in the dark, but to make the light ever more brilliant.

I don’t have to know the future. It is vital, though, that I trust the One who holds the future. As a believer in Jesus, I rest securely and confidently in the certainty that whatever happens to me in the unknown future is filtered through His love, and sifted through His mercy.

Rejoice in the unknown! Appreciate the unknown! Find adventure and excitement in the unknown!

And, dear people, find security in knowing that your Lord knows what kind of fish is on your hook before you land it, what kind of treasures are in the grab bag before you open it, and what kind of sweet delight is in the piece of chocolate before you bite into it!

Even more, He holds your future in His loving and gracious hands!

Live life to the full! Joyously uncover each adventure the Savior has planned for you!

Pastor Carl Henkel