I am a Mist

I love fresh starts...second tries...new beginnings, and every year I feel the same excitement as I look ahead to all that the coming year may hold.  But I also experience quiet reflection as I look back on the year just completed and think through what I am glad for and what I wish I had done differently.  The one thing I am sure of, is my appreciation of God's grace on my life .  God has said that even though there is sorrow in the night, joy comes in the morning.  That is what the new year feels like for me - even though there may be sorrow for some of what has been, there is joy for the newness - another chapter waiting to be written.

As I reflect on these thoughts, God has brought to my heart the reminder of how little time we have here on earth to live for Him, and it stirs within me a desire to use each moment for His glory and purposes.  We find in James 4:14 a picture of this, "What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."  The same chapter also explains the importance of understanding that we don't know what tomorrow will hold and our calling is to do the "good" we know we should do.  I feel that I hold life very carefully - it may be because my dad died suddenly in a drowning accident when he was only 31 or it may just be a God given awareness, but I have always sensed that life is a fragile gift and our job is to make the most of each moment we have.  If we are but a mist then we do not know when we will vanish, but we are called to do the "good" that God has planned for us to do.

What if you don't feel you know what the "good" is for your life?  Take some quiet reflection time (come on, you can carve it out if you really grasp that this is eternal purposes we are talking about) and ask the Lord to show you what He wants you to focus on this year.  Don't look for something complicated, the answer may come in a whisper of...simplicity, time with your family, less activity, care for a hurting friend, love towards a certain neighbour.  Start with obedience to the first thing that God brings and you will likely find that as you step out and do that "one good thing", He will bring the next thing to mind. 

It is us, not God, that complicates this life we are trying to live.  He only expects us to take one day at a time and walk out obediently in the direction He brings.  Don't be worried that our lives are passing as a mist; be glad we have been forewarned, and use that awareness to value each moment accordingly.  Make this year of "mist" a purposeful, joy-filled year.