October 2025

I was listening to a podcast this morning (September 16th) about current political events, and I found it odd that the hosts did not have anything to say about the murder of Charlie Kirk. May God bless and comfort Kirk’s family and friends! Towards the end of the podcast one of the hosts mentioned that they were recording the podcast on September 9th. The podcast was released on September 15th. I was listening to it the next day after its release.
            Once the host stated the date of recording, their silence on the Kirk murder made perfect sense: the murder happened the next day. However, this incident made me think about all of our lives. We truly do not know for certain what will happen tomorrow. For that matter, we do not know for certain what will happen in the next 10 minutes. The uncertainty of life is truly one of the most certain aspects of our lives. Yet, most of us never give a lot of thought to the fragility and brevity of our lives.
James spoke to this reality in his epistle. He noted how we can arrogantly and from a position of entitlement make plans without ever thinking about God or His will. He wrote, “13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” 14 You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring—what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. 15 Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15). Jesus gave a parable with very similar concepts in Luke 12: 16 Then He told them a parable: “A rich man’s land was very productive. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What should I do, since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? 18 I will do this,’ he said. ‘I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. 19 Then I’ll say to myself, “You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.”’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’ 21 “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
As I think about the brevity and fragility of human life and these words from Holy Writ, I find myself feeling convicted and comforted at the same time. May we never make big plans or even small plans without being completely aware of who we are as followers of Christ and whose we are as followers of Christ. May we seek His will for our lives and for every individual moment and decision from which the sum determines and describes our life. Likewise, as we make decisions, both big and small, fully aware of the uncertainty of our near and far future, may Jesus’ word always be our greatest source of hope, peace, joy, comfort, and strength: “27 My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (John 10:27-29).

-Pastor Clint Miller