James 4:14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
Two acquaintances of ours died unexpectedly this summer, leaving behind families totally unprepared for life without them. Although I didn’t know these men well, their deaths saddened me. The close proximity of their passing—within a month of each other—served as a stark reminder of life’s brevity.
The book of James asks, “What is your life?” It reminds us we’re here today and gone tomorrow. Even if we live to be a hundred, I’m guessing we’ll still feel like we’ve barely begun the first scene of the first act. I don’t know about you, but realizing my life is “but a mist” challenges me to make the most of the mist while I still can.
It also humbles me. James cautions us not to take our days for granted. We should approach each one as a gift given, an opportunity not to squander. Each day we can choose to either push ahead with our own agenda or ask God what he has in store.
My late father-in-law knew this well. When faced with difficult situations, he used to always say we need “to be grateful and make the most with what we got.” And he should know. He came to this country through Ellis Island as a young German immigrant in the early 1900’s. His family was poor, but they worked hard and trusted God to help them adapt. Rather than grumbling, they faced their uncertainties with a profound thankfulness for the “mist that appears for a while.”
The two men who died this summer were solid believers in Christ. They appeared for a little while and then vanished. But they vanished only from our natural eyes. Although their time on earth came to an end, as C. S. Lewis writes, death is but the beginning of the real story. They have now begun “Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read.”
Friend, we don’t know what tomorrow holds. So let’s make the most of each day. We only have one chance to be all God wants us to be. Let’s embrace this gift of life. This misty life.