Like a Mist That Vanishes
“…What is your life? You are like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:14b
The scattered clouds in today’s morning sky seem frozen in place. Only after staring at them for a good while do I detect slight movement to the northeast.
Other mornings, there are no clouds, and the oppressive summer heat creeps slowly into the day.
On still other mornings, a wild wind blows the clouds quickly past my kitchen window, the view changing rapidly as tufts of white fly through the blue.
Ever the skywatcher, I marvel at God’s activity in His heavens and how it speaks to my soul. Today marks 45 years of journeying with the Lord, and those clouds remind me of the many seasons He and I have weathered.
Maybe you, like me, have come to the Lord day after day, month after month, year after year, bringing the same need, the same desire, the same longing. And with my human eyes, I’ve seen nothing happen. But through eyes of prayer and faith, I’ve perceived a slight movement, activity, change or shift. God is not still, my friend. The answer, the gift, the response has always been delayed according to His good, sovereign plan for my life. And sometimes in the delay – when His hand moves almost imperceptibly – the gift has most often turned out to be that He’s changed not my circumstances, but my heart. In Psalm 73:25-26, the psalmist shares the moment he comes to the same conclusion: “Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (verses 25-26). You’ll lack for none of your heart’s desires when Jesus is your all-in-all.
The darkest night of my soul came when I was scorched, dry, and hardened – not because God had deserted me, but because I had deserted God. A searing loss underneath a crushing disappointment stacked beneath a mountain of doubt – and I turned and ran hard into a desert of my own making. I left behind God’s Word, averted my eyes from His gaze, and stopped my ears to His call. I chose to walk alone. But God had other plans. Through brothers and sisters moved by His Spirit, He pursued me and wooed me back to the land of the truly living. The prayers of the saints overpowered the silence of the prodigal. In the end, Peter’s cry in John 6:68 was my own cry: “Lord, to whom shall (I) go? You have the words of eternal life.” I couldn’t hide from the God Who loves me. Neither can you. “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your Presence?” (Psalm 139:7)
Then there have been seasons when life with God has been like riding the rapids of a snow melt-swollen river in spring, hurrying through the canyons and over boulders in a mad dash towards who-knows-what. But God knows what. He’s clearly driving His plans and purposes forward, and I’ve taken a deep breath, said a prayer, and held on for dear life. The choking splashes of frigid waters and the terrifying plunges into the raging current are intermixed with the breathtaking beauty of the passing landscape and the integral camaraderie and help of my fellow travelers. When the waters calm and the adrenaline settles, the Guide speaks, and I remember I was safe all along. Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” The God Who holds all of time in His hands has held me and supplied me through whatever that time has brought my way. He can do the same for you.
Forty-five years of walking with the Lord has a humbling effect on a gal! I’m far down the road on my journey of faith, and I see the light of Home over the horizon. I’m just a mist – a passing cloud in the sky – but I have a deep, quiet, growing excitement for what’s next. One day, I’ll disappear from here and enter the true Heaven!
That prayer I prayed on that Monday night in a minister’s office all those years ago catapulted me into a future I could’ve never dreamed or imagined – and right into the arms of a Savior and God from Whose love I can never be separated! (Romans 8:38-39)
Oh, my friend! How I pray you’ll know this wonderful God! Your life, too, is just a mist, and He wants you to be in His Heaven when this life of yours disappears.
