Thursday, September 8, 2011 - Long-Range Planning

An acquaintance told me about her precocious four-year-old granddaughter.
   She and her granddaughter were in the car when the little girl looked at her and said in a mildly depressed tone, "You know we're all gonna die, don't you?"
    Grandmom said, "That's what I hear."
    The child, frustrated her news hadn't made the impression she was looking for, added, "That means YOU, too. YOU'LL die, too." 
     Grandmom said, "Yes, I will die, too, but I'm not afraid because Jesus paid for all the wrong things I've done, so I'll get to go live in heaven with Him and heaven is a perfect place where nobody dies or even cries anymore."
    The little girl nodded and almost smirked, "Yeah, I know all that stuff but I like it down here."
     THE END lurks mysteriously at the foggy end of the road we're traveling. We know it's there; we just don't know how it will play out for us, or, at this point in history, for a world of people consumed with disaster movies about the earth's impending doom. Will aliens or a meteor attack? Will the sun burn out? Will some angry dictator push a red button? Will a million weather-related calamities collide at once?  And, if the earth outlasts me, what instrument will catapult me into heaven?  Heart failure? Automobile accident? Cancer? Another human being? 
     The four year old was short-sighted and only partly right: we're all going to die but God promises to preserve the souls of those who trust Him. 

The LORD shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 

Psalm 121:7

"But the LORD your God you shall fear; and He will deliver you from the hand of all your enemies."  

2 Kings 17:39

"He saved them for His Name's sake, that He might make His mighty power known." 

Psalm 106:8

     Time to stop wasting our time trying to preserve what others see and start investing in the part of us and other people that will outlive every calamity into eternity. 

"He who endures to the end shall be saved." 

Matthew 24:13

Lord, we cling to our toys, to our youth, to our glorious past and hopes for our future on earth while You tell us to let go of all that will stay here. We're short sighted four year olds who like whatever shines and lights up to entertain us.  You planned much more for our lives here. Teach us to let You shine  through us - especially when people face calamity and death. May our faith that You hold our souls safe from every evil be a magnet to unbelievers and a comforting assurance to believers.

Inspired by a new acquaintance