Ephemeral

Although it seems slow over the course of a whole day, the sun really can move quite fast. I took this photo of some stairs that I passed at my workplace. I liked the light and and thought that the broken lines of the railing's shadow along the steps created an interesting composition. I passed by the same location about 20 minutes later to see if I could perhaps get a better shot, but within that time the light had already shifted. The shadows were falling at different angles. Clouds in the sky had changed the overall brightness of the stone floor. The spot didn't look the same anymore.

Seeing how that scene changed made me think of how quickly circumstances can change, how quickly plans can be altered. Moreover, it made me reflect on how fleeting life is. Now It's not my intention to sound sad or disheartening with this blog post. Actually, I wanted to explain how I was humbled in reflecting upon the momentary nature of life and, more importantly, the solace I find in God and His attributes, namely in this instance His immutability.

This is a bible verse that came to my mind when I was editing the photo:

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

James 4: 13-14 (ESV)

The Word of God describes us a "a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." Another translation (the NASB) uses the word vapor. What a descriptive word that is - vapor. For illustrative purposes, I going to take a moment to talk about our humidifier. My wife and I got a new humidifier from Amazon recently, its the kind that produces warm or cool vapor mist. Its kind of cool actually, it even has this separate section where you can put essential oils if you want the room to smell nice. We got it for when the kids get sick. Well, I guess we also got it because it can get quite dry in our condo during the winter due to our use of the heater... okay, now I'm rambling way too much about how I'm excited about our new humidifier -- Back to the illustration! Now imagine in your mind my family's humidifier. Now how long do you think the vapor from that humidifier lasts when it is expelled into the air? If you said not very long, then I agree with you. Just like the scene in the image above, things can change in an instant. If the Bible describes us like a vapor, I would venture to say that it's almost as if your life is evaporating even this very moment. I think its good to realize that every now and then, to reflect on one's mortality, not in a morbid sense, but in a humbling way. Sometimes it's good to be reminded from God's word of how temporal this life really is.

But while we are like a vanishing mist, God is not.

The Grass withers, The flower fades when the breath of the lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Isaiah 40:7-8 (ESV)

The writer of Hebrews describes Jesus in this way:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

Psalm 136, which has a beautifully reassuring refrain, speaks of God's steadfast love towards His people. Here is an excerpt from that Psalm:

It is he who remembered us in our low estate,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

and rescued us from our foes,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

he who gives food to all flesh,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven,

for his steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 136: 23-26 (ESV)

The reason I bring up all these verses is to bring light to the truth that God, His Word and His character - essentially who He is - does not change. Things change around us all the time. We are tossed to and fro by unforeseen circumstances. In our own minds we go back and forth between plans, weary of how to proceed into the future. We have intentions to work on future projects and make arrangements to travel to various places, all the while we are not promised tomorrow. We are like grass that withers, flowers that fade, mist that is vanishing.

Though our lives are unsure and ephemeral, God is, has been, and always will be eternally unchanging. He is in other words immutable. He is unchanging in His attributes and His will. He is not set off course by unanticipated happenings. The Lord is sovereign. He is steadfast. He does not fade like we do. He is faithful through all the change. God is, as the hymn-writer so succinctly put it, "The Solid Rock." And I think the reason this hymn came to my mind during my writing of this essay was because of things that happened this past year. In 2018 we experienced unexpected life events that vividly showed me and my family that God is indeed sovereign. I think I can honestly say that Thursday September 13, 2018 was the scariest day of my life. My wife and daughter could have died that day, but God saved them. Even as I write this now tears are welling up just recalling God's mercy and grace. I will probably write about that day more at length in another blog post, but to bring this reflection to a conclusion, I will end with a verse from the aforementioned hymn.

When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

in ev'ry high and stormy gale

my anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

all other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

Soli Deo Gloria