Future Thinking

Future Thinking

The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son.

Matthew 22:2

I’ve been to numerous weddings, and I enjoy taking note of the traditions of the wedding feast. Some couples focus on the food, others on the entertainment, and other wedding feasts are all about the dancing—parents with children, friends with friends. One fun tradition at Amish weddings is the “pairing up” of young people. Steady couples are confirmed—and other young people wonder who will pick whom.

It is the custom at the wedding supper for the young people to sit in couples; thus each boy was forced to bring a girl to the supper table whether he wanted to or not. The older boys who had “steady” girls had no difficulty in pairing off, but young boys with little or no experience in courtship showed great timidity in finding a partner.

Those who refused to find partners were seized and dragged to the door, where they were placed beside a girl. Once in line, all resistance ceased and each couple went to the table holding hands, following the example of the bridal party. The supper included roast beef, roast chicken, noodles, beef gravy, chicken gravy, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, prunes, fruit salad, potato chips, cookies, pies, cakes, and for the bridal group and cooks there were, in addition, baked oysters and ice cream.

I smile when I think about all the speculation over future marriages. We tend to speculate about many other things, too—future relationships, future occupations, future vacations—even what’s for dinner! The only thing we can be certain of is that God, our Father, takes care of all the details. David wrote, “My future is in your hands” (Psalm 31:15).

Do you have hopes, dreams, and eager speculation about your future? We all do. How wonderful that God, who loves us unconditionally, is in charge of how everything will turn out!

Dear heavenly Father, I can’t wait to see what good plans You have in store for me. Thank You for holding my future in Your hands.