“…you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” (James 4:14, ESV)
A mist. The Greek word is atmis. The little cloud of breath you can see on a cold morning. The steam off your coffee. And James makes the words play. The mist appears, and then it disappears. Before you finish looking at it, it is gone.
That is your life, he says. Be careful how you hear that. This is not James trying to depress you. A vapor is not worthless. A vapor is just short. He tells you the truth about it so you will stop trying to carry what you were never built to carry. A mist does not have to hold up the sky.
Remember Hezekiah. Isaiah walks in with the worst sentence a person can hear. Set your house in order. You are going to die. Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and weeps and prays. And God sends word back. I have heard you. I have seen your tears. I am adding fifteen years to your life.
His days were numbered, then shortened, then extended. And he held none of it. Fifteen years were his. He just never held them. God did. Your days are short. And they are held. Just not by you.
Today: Instead of bracing for tomorrow, receive today. Name one thing in the next 24 hours you will hold with an open hand.