FLEETING

 

Tiny blue star-shaped flowers are the first to emerge in our flower beds as snow recedes. They last only a few days before withering. But during their short bloom time, they're like tiny encouragers as my outlook recovers from the cold, dark winter. Commonly called “Glory of the Snow,” their more formal name is chionadoxa.

As I walk by them on my way to and from our home, noticing them bloom and wither, I'm reminded of this word: fleeting.

That word takes me back to my college days as an English major. I slogged through my five-credit “Shakespeare” class, analyzing such quotes as this from Macbeth: “Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more!”

The phrase “hour upon the stage” reminds me of what the apostle James said about people who set up “life plans” for where they'll live and what they'll do to make lots of money during their lifetimes. James dumped cold water on their “hour-on-the-stage” plans with this observation: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).

God didn't create people with limited life spans to just play-act. He fashioned us with purpose. James added: “Instead you ought to say, 'If this is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that'” (4:15). A similar message came from Moses, who spent decades drilling the message “obey God” into a huge pack of wandering former slaves: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).

Sometimes, as in these past months of COVID-19 restrictions, life seemed to drag from day to day. But the reality is that life is short, a blip on eternity's screen. My time to “bloom” for Jesus is very, very short. My place to bloom is very ordinary, like that patch of cold soil where the “Glory of the Snow” emerges for a few days. But He sees me. And He cares. More important—contrary to the Shakespearian character with a fatalistic “heard no more” attitude—I matter to God for eternity!