What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- from James 4:14

Life is so fragile. As we think about and plan for the future, we can forget this truth.

In today’s passage, James compares our lives to a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. What a vivid picture! Imagine driving up and down 15-501. You cross the Haw River Bridge in the morning and the water hides beneath the fog. By mid-day, the sun has come out and burned the mist away. It’s as if the fog never existed.

The mist has no substance, no permanence, no control. We want to think our lives are more than that. We want to carve out a corner of the world. We want to leave our mark. We want to exercise some measure of control. And yet we’re fragile.

James drives us to come to grips with our own fragility. We will not be here forever. We are not permanent. We are not in charge. But do you know who is?

The Lord is not like a mist at all. He’s substantial and permanent and in control. Neither the wind nor the sun nor the whims of men can make him vanish. Compared to him even the sturdiest of us begin to appear thin and flimsy and transparent.

James wants us to remember our fragility because knowing that we are mist-people motivates us to cling to our solid God. When we think about our futures, we must keep him in mind. We need him to teach us to number our days and make them count.

Take a few minutes today to acknowledge your impermanence. Ask yourself: do my plans for my future account for my impermanence?