Job, chapter 8:
13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God;
so perishes the hope of the godless.
14 What they trust in is fragile;
what they rely on is a spider’s web.
15 They lean on the web, but it gives way;
they cling to it, but it does not hold.
Much of what we cling to in this life is more fragile than we realize. Indeed, life itself, too often taken for granted, is fragile, full of peril, without guarantees. My 47-year-old neighbor passed away this past Saturday; robust, full of energy, laughter, and life, he fell victim to a merciless, random blood clot. Too soon, too young. Unexpected, we say, shaking our heads, what a shock. And yet, our surprise is a direct result of our assumption that a long life is a guarantee. The truth is, none of us know what tomorrow will bring. Psalm 139 says, “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” And in Psalm 90, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
In other words, we don’t know how much time we have, so we need to make it count. In whom, or in what, do we place our trust? Where do we look for our security, confidence, reassurance, acceptance? What is it that truly matters in a world that is fragile?
Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. Isaiah 26:4