Perilous times

“And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown!  And he replied: go out into the darkness and put thine hand into the Hand of God.  That shall be to thee better than a light and safer than a known way.”   (Anonymous)

Well, if you’re reading this then the Good Lord has seen fit to allow us another year on this earth.  I really appreciate the above quotation because it tells us exactly where the safety of our spirit lies: in the “Hand of God.”  Not only have we experienced some “perilous times” in this past year, we’re sure to face some in the coming one.

The apostle Paul used that term, “perilous times,” in his 2nd  letter to Timothy, chapter 3, verse 1 when warning him about things that “shall” happen in “the last days,” IE: the days in which we’re now living.  Who knows just what the coming year will bring us?  I’m sure that there will be “good” things but, as in all years, there will be “bad” or “perilous.”

Another thing to be cognizant of as we set forth in this coming year is that, we don’t really know how much of it we’ll even have.  We need to remember that it could end at any time, either for us as individuals or should the Lord’s “long-suffering” come to an end. 

James reminds us in his book (James 4:13-15) that we might plan for future events but they’ll only occur if the “Lord is willing” that they happen.  Perhaps God is “willing” to let us have another year on this planet but, who knows?  Matthew tells us that not even the angels in heaven know when the Lord will return and this earthly life will cease.  (Matt. 24:36)   The key thought there is found in verse 44 where we’re told to “be ready” at any time for it to end.

Well, are we to just sit idly by and do nothing?  To not plan for tomorrow?  No, absolutely not.  We just need to understand that, as James warns us, tomorrow isn’t promised.  Temporally speaking, we make our plans for our bodies necessities, but our spirit’s needs are what should be paramount in our plans.

We need to focus our efforts towards our spiritual goals more so than our earthly ones.  Simply because our spiritual life is eternal whereas everything about this earth and our physical lives only temporary.  Let me tell you about an event that I hope gives us a lesson-picture on “focusing” the efforts of our soul.  Of resolving to “be ready” should our earthly time end.

You may have heard of a great woman swimmer named Florence Chadwick.  She was the first woman to swim the English Channel.  She later had a goal of swimming from California to Catalina Island.  In 1952 she attempted to do that.

Of course there was lots of publicity and she was accompanied by her support boats and the boats of the news crews.  She had swam for about 16 hours in the frigid ocean waters when she encountered a fog bank.  She couldn’t see anything ahead of her and, despite the encouraging words of her team, she asked to be picked up.  They did, and after doing so, she discovered that she was only a half mile from Catalina when she quit.  She later told a reporter that she wasn’t making excuses, but if she could have seen the shore, she would have made it.

What kept her from reaching her goal?  It wasn’t the icy water.  It wasn’t the fatigue she felt in her muscles.  It was the fog!  And do you know why?  She said it was because of it she lost her “focus.”  She couldn’t see her goal.  What a great lesson to us.  That we plan for our earthly needs in this coming year, but more especially, that we “focus” on our primary goal - reaching the eternal heaven.

For my closing thoughts for today’s editorial, I’m going to borrow a word from Christ’s sermon on the mount.  In Matt. 6:34 He uses the word “sufficient.”  I think this might be a good word to wrap up our little lesson here. 

“Sufficient” means things like: satisfactory, or plenty, or adequate, but the definition that I particularly like is “acceptable.”  A good scriptural passage regarding this word is found in Romans 12:1-2 where we read:  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  And be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Another passage that further fits with our thoughts here is in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verse 18.  The reason that I’m citing this verse here is because it further defines “sufficient and acceptable” and relates also to our passage we just read from Romans.  You’ll notice that Paul has received some earthly gifts from the brethren and is thanking them for having sent them.

But, the thing that I want you to take note of in that verse is that he describes their benevolence as an “acceptable sacrifice” and then equates that to being “well pleasing to God.”  That tells me that if I’m “acceptable,” then I’m “well pleasing to God.”  That is my goal and should be for all of us.

I said that Christ’s word “sufficient” is a good word to end on and here’s my final usage of that word.  In the coming year, let’s strive to be “sufficient” in faith: “sufficient” in love: “sufficient” in understanding and “sufficient” in our “focus” towards our eternal goal. 

With your permission, I’d like to use Paul and something he said, also to the Philippians, for a final, scriptural thought.  In chapter 3 and verses 13-14 he says that in “reaching forth unto those things which are before” (focusing on what lies ahead in his life), he sets the example we should all strive for.  “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Let’s let that also be our resolution and “focus” for the coming year.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Covey