Cling Away

In this life, most everything is temporary.  It seems as though nothing lasts forever.  In some cases, I can appreciate that things are fleeting.  Take for example the 24-hour flu.  Thank goodness it rarely knocks you flat onto your back for more than one to two days.  I think the flu, at its worst, can lead people to believe that they are actually dying, that their time has come.  I know that when my body has been depleted and there is nothing left but a dreadful case of the dry heaves, I have asked that the Lord just take me now.  Dramatic, I know- but if you're honest with yourself, you've probably been there too.  I am also thankful that winter is only temporary.  Though it comes annually, it also dies down each year when Spring rushes in a breath of fresh air.

In other cases, I struggle with things being temporary.  By nature, I think most of us are hoarders.  I don't mean hoarder in the sense that we have 35 cats-keep every receipt-and there's no room to walk in our homes.  Rather, we tend to cling on to what we love and wish that it would never end.  I feel that way often these days whenever I am around my family or a group of friends.  Since Seattle still doesn't feel like home and we don't have a community here, every time I get to see family or visit with friends every moment is bittersweet for me.  Sweet because I am with the people I love the most and it is such a gift for my spirit.  And bitter because I know it has to end and at some point I will find myself back on a plane headed in a direction away from the ones that I love sharing life with.

Then there's my birthday.  I love my birthday.  It's that one day where I just feel pretty proud of myself for making it through another year.  But, if you know me well, you know that as each hour passes, I begin to get sad because I know with each tick of the clock that my birthday will end and tomorrow will be just an ordinary day.  I recognize that it is silly, yet still it happens.

I love to live in the moment but often times wish the moment would never have to end.  Do you ever feel that way?  Like you want to latch on to all the magnificent things, live life to the full, and then close your eyes and hold your breath in an attempt to not let the time pass and make it last forever.  I'm guilty of it.  I'm a hoarder of the good times and I wish my glory days would never have to end.  Yet, they always do.  It's all temporary, or so it seems and often we are just left with the memories.

I think we yearn for some things to last and beg for certain times to go because we want perfection.  It's as if we want to take elements from different times of our lives and put them into to play so we can make it last forever.  A dream world reality.  Our human selves want to clench onto whatever it is we can and carry it into the next phase, the next season.  If there could always be just one more sip, one last drop, then maybe we would be satisfied.

Perfection isn't attainable.  Believe me, I've tried.  In fact, I'm guilty in striving for perfection almost everyday.  It is a disease.  We can't take it all with us.  Every perfect moment, grand location, and ocean breeze can't be bottled up.  We have to live each moment and let it wash over our backs when it is complete.

Life is temporary.  We are temporary.  The flu will come and go.  Seasons will change and typically holidays last for just a mere 24 hours.  The only thing we have that lasts forever is God's love.

Today's promise: "Though the mountains vanish, my unending love will never leave you." Isaiah 54:10

The earth will give way but His love is unending.  Sickness may come but His love never leaves.  Celebrations will be toasted and His love will be there before, in the midst, and after every last bite.  It does not change.  It is not temporary.  His unending love will never leave.

It does not matter the time or the place.  In happiness and troubles His love is always there.  God's love for us is not circumstantial.  He loves at one intensity and at all times.  Whatever we are going through in life, He constantly loves us with His whole heart.

There is no need to hoard it or worry that it will disappear over time.  Each and every moment is covered in His love.  It is not dangled in front of us as a prize to be one or revoked when we think we are unworthy.  Nothing, nothing at all will allow His unending love to ever leave.  There is always another drop.  Everything around us may change and life will take us places we may wish never existed-but His persistent love remains.  If there is anything you should ever cling to, it is this.  For me, and for you, His dear children, the Lord's unending love will never leave.  I shall cling away to that promise for all of my days.