Remembering, Thinking and Praying

James 4:14
“whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”

Psalm 139:16
“Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.”

I had one of those phone calls yesterday. A voice I had not heard in a long time apologizing for the fact that once again it has taken a sad occurrence to put us in touch with each other and wishing we had done better at calling during happy times. A dear friend from our Florida days, when we were younger and newly married, called today to tell me that the man who had been our beloved Sunday school teacher and friend went home to be with his Lord this weekend unexpectedly, leaving behind his wife and teenaged children.

Drew and I have been crying and praying together for our friends and also for the time that has gone. We matured as a married couple and grew spiritually in that church and Sunday school class, and the friends we made there are the kind of friends who, even if we haven't talked in a while, can pick right up as if we just saw each other yesterday. This life is so fleeting. I’ve really been thinking a lot about how much I take for granted. We are never guaranteed tomorrow. I’ve been thinking so much about how my heart aches for this wife and children who are left behind to pick up and carry on, though I know that in the midst of their shock and grief they have the comfort and hope of knowing their husband and father is with Jesus now. But also I’m so reminded that I want to live my life in such a way that I will not have any regrets should someone close to me be taken unexpectedly. I spend too much time saying, “I’ll get to that soon,” or “I’ll call that person next week,” and I need to do a better job of not putting things off. I also do an awful amount of whining about things that don’t really matter. We don’t know when the day will come when there isn’t another tomorrow. But God does know the days of our lives. Our friend has lived the days that were written for him and now can rest in the glorious presence of Christ. This is the blessed hope we have who trust in Christ alone.