“Man, who is born of woman, Is short-lived and full of turmoil. Like a flower he comes forth and withers. He also flees like a shadow and does not remain.” – Job 14:1 (NASB)
Perhaps at times like these, with uncertainty in every headline and trending on social media, we need to remember who it is that eternally controls of all things. Job affirms this fact. Confronted with intense testing and suffering Job asks for meaning since life is short, all are sinners (v. 4), and days are limited (v. 5), then comes death (vv. 7–12). We are reminded of the fact that the life we have and the things that we accumulate should be held lightly. We do not delight in this stark reality as we recognize we may be just a hair-breadth away from the “arrows of adversity.” The psalmist in Psalm 30:6-7, boasted how his mountain stands firm and that he will never be moved. We live in tremulous times as we observe what is happening to the people and especially our brothers and sisters in Ukraine. C. H. Spurgeon said of this truth, “We should love, but we should love with the love which expects death, and which reckons upon separations.”* Let’s keep our perspective: our loved ones are simply on loan to us and one day, maybe sooner than we wish, they will be returned to His hand.
*C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings, (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).
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