• Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

    By: Kristen L. McNulty

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

    Recently I took a drive out to me aunts cottage so that I could spend the weekend out there relaxing and recharging. I love the drive as it's one I can remember taking ever since I was very young and there are a lot of beautiful things to see along the way.

    One of the highlights for me is looking at this stunning house that is set back from the highway. It looks like something that Anne of Green Gables might have lived in, complete with the wraparound porch and a view of a rolling meadow with a pond in the distance. A truly beautiful home that would really catch my eye every time we would drive by.

    But this time on the drive I had a shock when I glanced towards where the house has been for the past twenty-some years, only to find it was gone. No more white peaks or classy shutters. There was nothing left, not even a foundation.

    I don't know why but seeing that gorgeous home suddenly gone really bothered me. It's not like I knew who lived there or the reasons why it came down, but I guess to me it was a real reminder that in life we shouldn't hold too tightly to anything because it could all be here today but gone tomorrow.

    Now I'm not trying to put you in a bad mood or be a pessimist, but it is the truth. In life there are no guarantees. As James pointed out,

    "How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog- it's here a little while, then it's gone." (James 4:14)

    Just because something is one way today doesn't mean it's going to be that way tomorrow. The only certainty we have in this life is that there will be uncertainty.

    Now while that reality could cause any one of us to be plagued by feelings of fear and doubt and insecurity, it doesn't need to be that way. In the Bible we are taught that while nothing in this world is certain, we follow a God who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). We're also told that if we make Christ the foundation of our lives, it doesn't matter what happens or what changes in our lives; that we can stand strong. Matthew 7:24-25:

    "[Jesus said] Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse, because it is built on rock."

    I don't know about you, but that's the kind of strength and assurance I need to cling to in this life. Not that life is going to be perfect or not that everything is always going to stay the same, but that no matter what happens I am safe and secure in the God who is unchanging.

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