Don’t Fret Your Hour on the Stage
Your life is but a moment in time
Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (James 4:14, NASB)
The lesson of a flower
Our Hibiscus plant is beautiful when it blooms. The ephemeral blossom looks like a bright pink trumpet with yellow tentacles coming from its center. This spectacle lasts for only one day. If one is not there the day it blooms, one will not be able to enjoy its grandeur because the blossom will fall to the ground by the end of the day.
A lesson from the stage of life
We who are older adults will attest to being like the Hibiscus flower. We still recall when our skin was taut and our muscles vibrant, but now the wrinkles and sags have replaced these things to make outward beauty less desirable in the eyes of the world.
I agree with Shakespeare’s words in Macbeth,
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more.
To me, metaphorically speaking, I was young merely an hour ago, strutting and fretting my millisecond on the stage of life.
We do not know about our tomorrow; we only have the memories of yesterday, and soon enough, even our days will be gone. However, we can learn a great lesson through Christ concerning our yesterdays, todays, and tomorrows.
The lesson from scripture
One of the biggest lessons we can learn is not to grieve our past or worry about our today and tomorrow. We are like a bit of vapor that appears one day and vanishes the next; however, there is no hopelessness in the seeming inconsequentiality of it all.
Our little, vaporous lives are worth eternal value to God.
Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18, NASB)
Like the ephemeral Hibiscus blossom who does not fret about its beauty lasting only a day, we have one short life and one chance to get it right.
How do we get it right?
We can ask for forgiveness for our past mistakes and stop fretting about tomorrow. We can get our today right by trusting and hoping in Christ Jesus. He will redeem and make us new in His likeness, and He will make us strikingly radiant through His mercy, grace, and love.
God does not want us to worry about things of the past, present, or the future. He has a beautiful plan that gives us eternal hope. We will shine like the stars in heaven for the whole world to see His glory in us.
Prayer:
Thank you, Christ Jesus, for a salvation that calms all fears. Please help me to remember that in you, I am beautiful. Amen.
