Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor for a little while, and then vanishes away.” (James 4:14, NASB)

Our family mourned the passing of two members this week.

Both, too early in life.

During this same time, my wife and I got into an argument because she felt safe doing something and I let my overprotective nature get upset because I didn’t think she was safe enough. You would think my not wanting her to get hurt would cause me to treat her in a supporting, loving manner.

It did not. Instead, I chose to let her know just how unsafe I thought she was. I’ll leave the results of that exchange to your imagination. I will say this. Before she left for an appointment later that day, I made sure she knew I was sorry and that I loved her very much. Still, the remnants of that episode lasted a while.¹

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We, people, do those things all the time. We take opportunities for love, support, care, and encouragement and do the exact opposite. Maybe you’ve done that with your children, a co-worker, a friend, or a fellow church member. You care. You really do. But for some misguided reason, you not only miss an opportunity for good and sometimes worse, create something bad.

In James 4, James is warning us about planning our future as if we are in control. Planning the future as if it depended on us is short sided at best. Only God knows what is going to happen us tomorrow, next week, or next year. James wanted his audience to recognize that they needed their dependence on the Lord. In doing that, they would be living according to His will and not their own.

I should have done that with my wife.

Two minutes after our incident, I knew how I should have handled it. In fact, I knew it before I even started. I just chose to follow my selfish nature and made my point rather than helped.

If you’ve done this same kind of thing, don’t delay in asking forgiveness and asking God to help you to improve. And remember, we may think we’re going to be here tomorrow, but our lives are like vapors, here for a little while, then vanished away.

¹ For the record, she was not unsafe. Since that day, we’ve used her technique safely and successfully several times. When will I learn?

Today’s feature photo comes from a “photo-a-day” challenge I pursued several years ago. The photo inspires the topic. For me, the posts challenge my creativity, writing discipline, and dependence on God for His message. My prayer is that you find hope in God’s Word, and that you’ll share your hope with others.