Only God knows

Last week, our church hosted a group of senior adults on a visit to Niagara Falls. According to the website, Science for Kids, more than 44 million gallons of water flow over the Horseshoe Falls, not daily or hourly, but every minute! This means nearly four trillion gallons of water thunder over them each year.

However, did you know that in 1848, Niagara Falls stopped flowing for nearly two days? Only a trickle or no water at all seeped over the falls. What could cause the falls to stop? The Niagara River, which feeds the falls, froze, creating an ice jam that clogged the river on March 29. Downstream, waterwheels stopped spinning, mills quit producing, and factories shut down. Later that year, larger than average crowds visited the area, fearing the falls as they were historically would cease to exist, and they would miss the chance to experience their grandeur.

Our plans to visit Niagara Falls were already well underway in June when I listened to an audiobook by the well-known historian, Ronald White. White shared how Niagara Falls drying up prompted Abraham Lincoln’s family to visit that year. In his fascinating book, “Lincoln in Private,” White shared that the Lincolns arrived the last week of September in 1848. This was the same week our group visited 176 years later, an historical connection that added a deeper significance to our visit. Visiting the falls was a very moving experience for the future president and for everyone in our group as well.

We all know our lives are a mix of good and bad, but none of us know what we will experience. Only God knew when 1848 began how Niagara Falls would stop for 40 hours three months later. Many years earlier King David wrote, “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (Psalm 139:16, NLT)

The reality that our lives are unpredictable reminds us to trust God with our future, no matter what it holds. We rely on God for many reasons, but one of the most compelling is that only he knows what will happen to us and how we will cope with our challenges. Everyone sometimes makes assumptions about what lies ahead; however, according to Psalm 139, God knows much more about our lives than we do. Only God knows the details of every moment of every day, and he offers us peace amid life’s storms as we learn to trust him with the unexpected turbulence of our lives.