Today’s Devotional: Life is Short. Life is Unexpected.
Four years ago the World Cup turned me into a raving soccer fan for a month. I found myself watching matches on the local Spanish stations just to keep up with the day-to-day action. Anyone who would listen to me was hit with a barrage of facts and animated play-by-plays. After the Cup ended, my interest in the sport dwindled until it started up again this summer with the 2010 World Cup.
Looking back, those hot summer days four years ago feel like they happened just yesterday. In the interim I’ve been through life-changing events and circumstances, but despite the weight of those events when they were happening, life continued to go on. The same sensation comes over me when I look at my nieces and nephews and realize that they can now talk in full sentences, or in some cases have stopped laughing so hard at their goofy uncle.
And when I look forward, the only thing I can really conclude is that I have no idea what’s going to happen.
When we look back on our past, we see how quickly life moves along; and when we look forward, the only thing we can conclude is that life is full of the unexpected. Today’s devotional from Chuck Swindoll’s Day by Day discusses how we should view the present in light of this knowledge:
I suggest there are three words that adequately and accurately describe the present. They do not contradict either lesson we have learned from time, nor do they require rose-colored glasses. Neither do they agree with philosophy’s futile meanderings. For as we look at the present, we discover: LIFE IS CHALLENGING.
Because it is short, life is packed with challenging possibilities. Because it is uncertain, it’s filled with challenging adjustments. I’m convinced that’s much of what Jesus meant when He promised us an abundant life. Abundant with challenges, running over with possibilities, filled with opportunities to adapt, shift, alter, and change. Come to think of it, that’s the secret of staying young. It is also the path that leads to optimism and motivation.
With each new dawn, life delivers a package to your front door. When you hear that ring tomorrow morning, try something new. Have Jesus Christ answer the door for you.
Life’s most challenging opportunities are often brilliantly disguised as unsolvable problems.
Can you relate? What unexpected circumstances have come into your life over the last year, and looking at them in retrospect, can you see that they were opportunities for growth?
