“I didn’t think my life would turn out like this!” That’s what my dad told me as he assessed situation of being a widower and his necessity to move away from his home and have assistance due to continued declining health. Actually none of us really know exactly how the story of our lives will turn out or how the story will end. When asked, most people say they do not want to know how or when they will die. On the contrary I do want to know how and when I will die! I realize I am different but if I knew when it was going to happen, then a week before I am going to die I would eat nothing but Double Stuffed Oreos and Ice Cream! Why bother eating fruit when there is just a week left! On a more serious note I did hear one lady late in her long life say that if she had it all to do over again she would “eat more ice cream and less beans”. (My translation: beans are good for you and are a necessary part of your diet, but ice cream is more fun…or more simply, ”Do what is necessary in life but have as much fun as possible as you do it!”)
Famous author Stephen Covey writes that we are responsible for 90% of what happens to our lives, which is the way we react to the 10% of that which we cannot control. I have read his works and agree that our reaction is important but respectfully disagree with his math. (But I am sure, as a best selling author, he worries about my disagreement all the way to the bank). There are some who are born into a family of abuse, addiction or dysfunction that affects their lives on a larger percentage than 10%. Others cannot control the health that changes their lives. I have known many who have had their lives turn out in very surprising and shocking ways when a spouse becomes unfaithful, has a disease or dies creating a life situation out of their control but it destroys their dreams and their future.
I have learned that there are some parts of our life story that we simply cannot control. In spite of my desire know how and when my life will end (to get a head start on my Oreo binge if for no other reason) I cannot know the ending. Regardless of my desire to work things out the way I think best, I do not always know the best way. I do not have complete knowledge. Isaiah 55: 8 reminds me, God’s thoughts are not my thoughts and his ways are not my ways. I have to trust God even when I don’t understand and it doesn’t make sense to me. I know he loves me and he knows best. While one can not control how or when life will end in this world, when we place our faith in Christ we can have the assurance of what happens afterward. Jesus comes to take us to be with him (John 14:1-4).
Life here does have its uncertain qualities. However, there are some parts of my life story that I can write. I can write what I do today. Dad did not know his life would turn out like this but he did have a plaque on his desk that read, “For every minute you are angry, you lose 60 seconds of happiness!” He taught me that we may not know how things will turn out in this world but we can make the most of each moment. I remember growing up in a home of laughter. I still am famous for asking my wife, in the middle of one of those ‘discussions’ that married couples sometimes have, “OK how long to we have to stay mad about this? Is 3 minutes OK or do we have to use up 5?” (Take it from me, under those circumstances that question does not normally subtract minutes but I am a slow learner in some things).
Ecclesiastes 11 4-6 tells us, “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap. As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” One way of understanding what this scripture is telling us is to stop waiting to figure everything out or find the perfect time or answer for things in life. Sometimes one has to make the most of the opportunity at hand because we do not know what tomorrow may bring. So…sow while you can. Trust God with the harvest!
