I despise needing reading glasses but I reach for them more and more often. My husband and our three children have worn glasses since they were teens. Our grandchildren, like their parents before them, look suspiciously at Poppy when he takes off his glasses to wipe his eyes. They’re trying to find the familiar face they adore but something is missing.
Last time I had my eyes examined, the optometrist explained that my vision is actually very good. My aging eyes just take longer to focus between distance and close up. Everything in the kitchen is crystal clear from across the room but the digits of the clock on the oven are unrecognizably blurred. When I’m outdoors I rarely notice, but when I’m inside, especially using my phone, my eyes grow fatigued and my focus is less sharp.
If we’re honest, we know that we are finite human beings with limited capacities. Even the most fit among us cannot stop the aging process. We may delay it but we can’t avoid disease. Medical science has made much progress but our bodies eventually wear out. Death is unavoidable. Our mental capacity is similarly affected. We can train our minds by constant use, educating ourselves by degrees, but there is a limit to what we can know.
““The Lord our God has secrets known to no one.
We are not accountable for them, but we and our children are accountable forever for all that he has revealed to us, so that we may obey all the terms of these instructions.”
Deuteronomy 29:29 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/deu.29.29.NLT
When we think of time, we look forward and backward. We make our plans for the day. We map out our course for vacation or vocation. We reminisce, reviewing lessons learned and treasured memories stored away. Our thought comparisons are usually in reference to the past since we cannot know with any surety the future.
“In their hearts human beings plan their lives. But the Lord decides where their steps will take them.”
Proverbs 16:9 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/pro.16.9.NIRV
“There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.”
Proverbs 19:21 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/pro.19.21.NKJV
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.3.5-6.NLT
Weather forecasts are only educated guesses. I remember the day my husband, then fiancé drove me to the beach for a picnic. We spent most of the day in the car driving north one public beach access at a time to escape the rain. It was his only day off and he was determined to make the most of it. He only consented to my driving the last leg of the two and a half hour return trip because he could no longer keep his eyes opened. We all have our limitations.
“Now listen to me, you that say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to a certain city, where we will stay a year and go into business and make a lot of money.”
You don’t even know what your life tomorrow will be!
You are like a puff of smoke, which appears for a moment and then disappears.
What you should say is this: “If the Lord is willing, we will live and do this or that.””
James 4:13-15 GNT
https://bible.com/bible/68/jas.4.13-15.GNT
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.55.8.NLT
When I book a family trip, I’m always offered an insurance policy to cover my costs should the unavoidable happen. Maybe it’s a gamble but I’ve never purchased it. Past experience with plans covering appliances and the like have taught me that I’m going to pay either way. There seems to be insurance for just about everything these days but less and less is actually covered.
There are very few sure things in life except as the old saying goes death and taxes. One day even taxes will be no more and death has been defeated for all who trust in Jesus as Lord.
“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”
“Yes, the Sovereign Lord is coming in power.
He will rule with a powerful arm.
See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.”
Isaiah 40:8, 10 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.40.10.NLT
“He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Amen!
Come, Lord Jesus!”
Revelation 22:20 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rev.22.20.NLT
“Seek the Lord while you can find him.
Call on him now while he is near.”
Isaiah 55:6 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/isa.55.6.NLT
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.
“They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.”
Jeremiah 29:11, 13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jer.29.11-13.NLT
“Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.”
Psalms 37:5 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.37.5.NLT
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