The Frailty of Life

“You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” - James 4:14.

I think that could pretty well sum up the entire blog right there, and would say just as much in itself as it would if I filled several pages. However, I feel a bit too contemplative to just let it go at that. I’ve been thinking a good deal lately, today especially, about how we are just what James says; a vapor that appears and vanishes away. Not only do we appear and vanish away quickly, but our lives are so fragile along that short 80-year period. At any instant something could happen that could snuff out our lives before we could really think about it. I was walking in the woods carrying a shot gun earlier. I could have slipped and fell or dropped the gun, which could have discharged into my chest or head, and that would be the end of my life here. Of course I do carry it safely, by the way, with the hammer up (i.e., safety on), but freak accidents do happen.

What really got me to thinking on such morbid topics are the experiences I’ve had driving lately. Within the past two weeks, I’ve come on the very edge of having three very serious car accidents. Today I was on a two-lane road between Forrest and Raleigh on a very open stretch of road. I was starting down a long hill and I noticed an unloaded log truck passing a few cars and another 18-wheeler. I saw that he wasn’t progressing past them very fast, and for some reason I started slowing down. I saw that he probably wasn’t going to make it, so I slowed down to about 20 or 30 mph. I then realized that he definitely wasn’t going to make it, and I had to pull over onto the shoulder just before he flew by. He was just starting to go back into his lane when he passed where I was stopping. It all happened without squealing tires or horns or anything (though I regretted not laying it on him has he passed by), but it easily could have been serious. The road may not have had a wide enough shoulder, like in most of that area. He could have come up like that over a hill or around a curve. So many things could have gone tragically wrong, but God saw that it was good for me to be in that place where I could safely pull over, and for me to have the instinct to slow down far ahead of time. But if any one of those factors weren’t there, it could have again been the end of me. Trucks usually lose in games of chicken with 18-wheelers.

So that’s where my thought process on all this began. I think the scariest part about something like that to me is not getting to say goodbye. There are things I would want to tell people that I wouldn’t have the chance to; many are things that simply can’t be said for now as long as I think I’ll keep on going for a good many more years. Of course I know that my very next experience would be with Jesus, which really makes death nothing to dear at all. The aftermath of death for those who are believers in Jesus Christ is so amazing that I simply cannot understand my human desire to want to finish my “do list” in this life first.

Going back to the original point, our lives are so dependent of God’s sovereign will and his gentle hand. That’s why just a few verses earlier James says (in Southern lingo) “Now don’t say you’re gonna go start you up a business over yonder in Starksville and git you a nice house and how you’re gonna retire early and live comfortable and spoil yer grand-younguns, cuz you ain’t go idea what could happen ‘tween now and then.” James says Lord willing, you will do the things you set out to do, but only if it’s in His will. Again, it’s my challenge that we realize how fragile out lives are, and how easily our work here can come to an end. Our lives rest in the hands of an all-powerful and jealous God, but also in the hands of a God who is infinitely loving to those who are His children. He loved us, He died for us, he forgave us, He called us, and He adopted us. Out frailty in life serves one purpose, and that is to show His infinite love and grace towards us.

Greetings from East Tenneessee

Durn it's been a long time since I updated this thing. Of course it's not like a message to the world, despite the fact that it's available to the whole world, so I realize the vast majority of the world is little concerned about what and when I blog. Of course, the fact the the entire world could read this is they wanted to does bring a little consolation.

All that aside, I've had an interesting day. It's an interesting feeling to take a day to decide what to do with the rest of your life. I realize choosing a college isn't generally considered a life-bearing decision, but in reality it's like setting off a infinite line of upright dominoes (I really don't think that's spelled right, but I had to agree with the Spell Checker or put up with the obnoxious red underline). Choosing one college over another potentially sets the course of your entire life. Think if the people you will meet in the first semester, even the first week. Actually, think back to the first day of the school/job you're currently in. Think of your friends, the times you've had with them, your experiences together, decisions you had made because of them.

Now imagine that you had chosen to work at Wal-Mart instead of McDonalds (though I'm not sure which is better), of chosen different classes, or a different college. You'd have never met many of the people now in your life. Of course, there really is no way to know what lies down either line of dominoes you choose to topple.

For those who are followers of Jesus Christ, this is why prayer is so vital to these decisions. I mean honestly, what wisdom to we have to make such a decision compared to that of an infinite God who knows every nuance of the future, knows us better than we do, every nook and cranny of our hearts. If we claim to be His followers, should that decision not be under His guidance? Now this does bring a new twist into the decision. What does God want for me? I have fretted, and worried, and stayed up all hours of the night (an extra 30 minutes in reality) trying to answer this question. How do I KNOW it's the right choice? God doesn't usually send neon signs (or talking donkeys) to tell us what we need to do. So after all the mental wrestling matches, I ran across a cool section of verses in Proverbs 16.
1 The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.
2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight,
But the LORD weighs the motives.
3 Commit your works to the LORD
And your plans will be established.
Verse 3 especially caught my eye. To translate, it says that if all we do in our lives is all about Christ, our thoughts, actions, etc., then His plans for us will fall into place. We'll make the right choices because we are already living for Him. Of course the challenge in that is to live for Him in the rest of our lives. That's what makes knowing Christ more than just a religion. It's one-on-one; it's personal. It's walking with Him, not just paying homage to a being that we can't know or doesn't exist. Pretty cool, eh?

So to get back to what's been going on, I checked out Belmont University in Nashville today for the second time. It's given me more of a peace about it to go again and look it all over by myself, just to think and soak it all in and see myself there. So unless God leads me elsewhere, I believe that's where I'll be going in the fall. I met two folks from Massachusetts who were very informative about my major, and enjoyable to talk to. I had no idea there was a soul up there who was politically conservative, but I guess I was proven wrong. The best things about the college are that it has 93% wi-fi coverage, has the tallest rock climbing wall in Tennessee, and the food is awesome. If only I didn't have to deal with the bells ringing out every hour...