The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3
“Nothing in human life is naturally secure or smooth or self-sustaining or permanent. Our fortunes run in a cyclical pattern that brings changes one after another, frequently within the space of a single day and sometimes even in an hour, and one may rather count on the shifting winds, or the wake of a sea-faring ship, or the illusory dreams of night with their brief respite, or the lines that children at play trace in the sand, than on human prosperity. The wise are those who because of their distrust of the present save for themselves in the world to come and because of the uncertain and fickle nature of human success embrace the kindness that does not fail.”
Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) in an excerpt of “Oration 14” in Select Orations, trans. by Martha Vinson (Washington DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2003) 52-53.
I can totally relate to this notion from Gregory, one of the four doctors of the Eastern Church: “Nothing in human life is naturally secure or smooth or self-sustaining or permanent.” Earlier in the oration he talked about how the rich fool stored up “wealth upon wealth” in response to the uncertainties of life, and so he argued that we should in trust in something altogether more reliable.
Jenni and I are learning that the unfailing kindness that Jeremiah reminded God’s people about in the Old Testament times is way more dependable than any resources we can stockpile for ourselves. So what about you? Are you wise? For about 16 years in our marriage we were foolish. We stored up treasures for ourselves. The last 9 years have been an altogether different adventure.
We’ve found that trusting in “kindness that does not fail” is the only way to live. Life still has its uncertainties, but our treasures are secure in the world to come and we see God faithfully provide our daily bread time after time. Sometimes He provides through our work, and other times through miraculous provision. Sometimes we get to bless others, and other times they bless us. He sustains us!
Today I fly to Seoul, South Korea, to teach my “Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity” class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. I don’t return until 5 July 2017 so if you could pray for the stamina for me and for the Spirit to work in the lives of my students, I would appreciate it. Please also pray for God to watch over my family back in the States too. Thanks.