Last week on Thursday I received news that brought two blows: A pastor friend from a church I have worked with in missions was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was younger than me, married with three kids, serving God effectively in ministry in his area. On the same day a good family friend with whom Holly and I have been connected for many years called me to let me know his father, a long-time dear brother in the Lord and good friend, had just passed away. Both of these losses took me by surprise.

In James 4:13-15 we read these words: Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” In Ecclesiastes I was reading this morning how futile so much of what we pour our life into really is. People work so hard, striving to create something that will last, and then they are gone.

I’m thankful both of my friends invested their lives in realities far beyond this earthly existence. I remember my mom had a quote on her fridge when I was growing up that said, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” These losses have made me reflect on where I put my security, invest my energy, what purposes I am working for. It is so easy for us to get distracted with all the mundane of life and forget that we are a vanishing mist, so we must make the brief time of this life count for something beyond this life. People and God and His Word are the only things that will last, so investing in these is true wisdom.

Perhaps you also have experienced loss recently. I want to encourage you to draw near to God, receive the comfort of the Holy Spirit and God’s people as you are reminded of what truly matters in life. Pour yourself into what will last, and hold all things in this life loosely since none of us knows how long we have. All is under God’s sovereign will. “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”