Week 7 Thursday

Fleeting Shadows

Today’s scripture selection: Job 13-14

Key verses: Job 14:1-2

 

     Job was fed up.  He was fed up with the unhelpful “advice” of friends; with their self-righteous attitudes and platitudes.  And he let them have it with both barrels.

     Not only that – he gave God an earful too.  In the midst of all his suffering, which he clearly saw as unfair and undeserved, he lamented:

     “Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure.”

     That image – of “fleeting shadows” – strikes me.

     Life can seem to be just that.  Fleeting shadows of…

  • Lost youth and innocence
  • Unfulfilled Dreams and aspirations
  • Failed Relationships
  • Unclaimed Opportunities

And when that happens, we are tempted to ask “What’s it all for, anyway?”

     Happily, these sections of Job are not the only scriptures we have at our disposal to ponder.  As much as we can sympathize, and even identify with, the suffering Job – we can  also see beyond it.

     Life can be a series of fleeting shadows.  But it is the promise of a loving God that along with lost youth and innocence come the promises of age and experience and rich new life experiences.  Along with unfulfilled dreams and aspirations comes the hope of different dreams that might hold even more promise than our original ones.  Along with failed relationships we can find new ways of relating and loving.  And along with unclaimed opportunities we can discover different ways to find our purpose in life.

You see God doesn’t give up on us.  Our God is a God of second, third, fourth – infinite – chances.

Though it might not always feel like it – tomorrow is another day, and another chance, for joy.

After all, it is the deepest conviction of historic Christianity that a crucified Jesus was raised again as a resurrected Christ.

So can we be raised again.

  

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for being the God of new life and fresh chances.  AMEN.

 

 

Paul Simrell's avatar

By Paul Simrell

The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

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