A Puff of Smoke

We smile with recall of long ago youth opening a box of Cracker Jack. Maybe you tore open one end in a frantic search for prize before first taste. Or perhaps you sedately opened a corner that allowed only portioned servings of caramelized popcorn and peanuts to fall into an open hand. Patience in waiting to identify prize may have frustrated an impatient sibling waiting to compare swag. We know that disappointment has a way of creeping into such comparisons.

Opening bubble gum packets of baseball trading cards brought pleasant surprises, but also disappointment when trying to be first among friends in completing coveted team collections. We could not know beforehand the results of a bubble gum or Cracker Jack purchase. One could not plot or plan the expected outcome of that purchase. Yet today we count on well-intentioned plans to determine our future. When such plans fail, disappointment disrupts the routine of living. Unresolved disappointment has a way of dragging discouragement in its wake.

Recent disruption of plans in my own life raise questions without answers. I am thankful for a wife who is quick to encourage while reminding me of God's purpose in delivering us from previous tribulations. We are to leave the problems with God and pray. God's purpose for our life is not over. He doesn't expect us to be dormant but to take action following His will for our lives. We avoid discouragement by focusing on God's purposes and looking for opportunity to fulfill them.

In planning for the future, our plans should not be set in stone but are to remain flexible. Consideration of God's will and purpose for our lives must be foremost in our minds. In doing so we will never be disappointed. Our primary job is to reach out to others, being a witness for Christ by telling them what He has done in our own lives

How do you know what will happen even tomorrow? What, after all, is your life? It is like a puff of smoke visible for a little while and then dissolving into thin air. Your remarks should be prefaced with, "If it is the Lord's will, we shall still be alive and will do so-and-so." As it is, you get a certain pride in yourself in planning your future with such confidence. That sort of pride is all wrong.

No doubt you agree with the above in theory. Well, remember that if a man knows what is right and then fails to do it, his failure is a real sin.

[James 4:14-17 J.B. Phillips Translation]

 

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 9, 2022 at 10:19 AM

    But how can you get strength to do what needs to be done when in yourself you find nothing but weakness? To that I am learning that even in my weakness God is working and giving strength even tho undeserved. His love for me and the things He does for me on a daily basis increase my love for Him and my desire to get nearer to Him grows... to get near to God I must choose to be still and have quality time with Him. When I poor out my heart to Him and read His word I find my bones strengthened my mind braised and inspiring love welling up in my heart. That love begins to move my heart to do things for others. And the more I do for others the more I see what God does for me and others. There is great joy and peace in doing more for others than we do for ourselves. And God supply's all of the needs. If we will ask and trust Him to do so...... so when all we see in our life is failure. Gods love is able to redeem a black sheep that is prone to diving into the pig pen.

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