Hold Life Loosely

By Peter Lundell –

Twice in four days an LA County Sheriff’s helicopter has evacuated people from ambulances right by my house, once in the street and once in the park. I live in a suburb that’s so peaceful, I sometimes think I’ll go comatose. People move here and pay too much for their houses in order to avoid drama and send their kids to good schools. And they typically prohibit anything they don’t like—or wish they could. Don’t we all?But drama ignores boundaries. Every one of us lives moment-by-moment, never able to say with certainty that we’ll be free from affliction or even live another day. We all know people, young and old, who have died unexpectedly. Many of us have lived through hardships and even tragedies. We all have bad days.

No amount of health insurance, life insurance, or stock portfolios will ensure we won’t be hauled off in a helicopter—followed by the sting of a hefty bill.

Seems that the only smart thing to do is to hold life loosely, enough that it will set well in God’s hands. Easy to say. Doing it demands humility and faith—hard ingredients if we like having our own way.

All that “die to yourself” and “take up your cross” talk in the New Testament fits in about here. It’s no wonder God lets us be miserable at times, or for some of us it’s much of the time. Seems that God wants our attention.

I find that the more attention we give God, the less concern we have about our insurance, investments, jobs, or anything else in life—except that which has eternal value.

Maybe that’s God’s general idea. And it will forever fly in the face of conventional wisdom. I often wonder who’s paying attention. I’d like to think I am. Are you?

PRAYER: Lord, Open my eyes to see beyond this life, and loosen my hands to release things that keep me bound and inattentive to You.

“You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes” (James 4:14, NET).

Today’s devotion is by Peter Lundell, author of Prayer Power. A rising new voice on connecting with God, he is a pastor, Bible college teacher, and conference speaker. Visit him at www.PeterLundell.com for his inspirational “Connections” and free downloads of articles, parables, short stories, and book chapters.