February 25, 2025 The Fragility of Life
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Fragility of Life
13 Come now, you who say,
“Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.”
14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.
What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.”
James 4:13-15
As I bulleted a few goals for 2025 and laid plans for some key tasks I wanted to accomplish, two thoughts paused my pen mid-air: the sudden and recent death of a brother-in-law and the doctor’s pronouncement that my only option for relief was hip replacement.
As one who easily takes off to do whatever I set my mind to, I believe God was reminding me to hold my plans loosely. Tomorrow is not promised. I can dream and lay out wishes and goals, but I do not control whether I achieve them or not. God’s mercy and grace alone enable me. I have limitations; and life is brief.
So, I finished listing my goals, dreams and plans. But then I placed them in God’s hands to shape or reshape according to His will and purposes. I cannot control the future, but I do not have to. I know the One who does. And “I am sure that I’ll see God’s goodness” (Psalm 27:13, Message) because of His great love for me and all Creation.
Reflect: What plans or goals are you holding too tightly? How can you entrust them to God, while remaining open to His will and purposes, especially when life’s uncertainties and limitations come knocking at the door?
Pray: Lord of lords, Thank You for Your mercy and grace that sustain me. Take my life and future, therefore, to consecrate it for Yourself. I trust in Your wisdom and purposes and surrender my goals to You. I take heart and will not quit. If it be your will, take my plans and interrupt or disrupt them for something different that will better bring glory to Your Holy Name. Amen.
By His Grace,
Gloria Ashby
Lay Leader