..after the wind blows, the flower is gone…

Where did they go? The years, the people, my youth?

The Bible says “Human life is like grass. We grow like the flower in the field. After the wind blows, the flower is gone, and there is no sign of where it was.” Psalm 103:15-16 

Just like those flowers we are beautiful and even strong at first but that soon fades and withers.  In the field we are open to the elements; the storms of life and the harshness of the seasons.  This body as we know it is already fading and will one day give up the fight. 

When young and especially when at school, the days, the weeks and the year seems to last forever.  Ironically, when older, those days, weeks and years seem to go in a flash. It is as if the wind has blown and the years, my youth and people that I loved have gone too.  One day I will too. 

Francis Quarle wrote “And what’s life? A weary pilgrimage, whose glory in one day doth fill the stage with childhood, manhood, and decrepit age.” 

Some days life does feel like a weary pilgrimage but there has to be more than existing and then dying.  The question is what to do with the life we have in spite of its brevity?  Will we languish or live?    

I draw comfort that my life, while fleeting is a part of a bigger story; a story whose author is eternal with a redemptive plan for all mankind.   I may be forgotten quickly by others but I will not be forgotten by Him. He who created me, has a purpose and plan for my life made only possible in relationship with Him. A life made possible and redeemed through the life and work of Christ Jesus. And an eternal future with Him beyond this death. 

And no matter how many years have passed, how harshly the winds have blown and the beauty has faded, the Bible promises that those that are right with God will flourish, be fresh and green and bear fruit in old age.  (Psalm 92)