The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
Isaiah 40:7-8 ESV
What is truly lasting? There are very few constants in all creation, few things that can be relied on. We live and perhaps have always lived in time of quickly shifting moral and ethical understandings. A friend recently delivered a talk about his love for taking pictures and how God speaks to people through the stars. God designed all of creation and it if we look closely, we can see His fingerprints on everything.
When we see so much change, so much division, so much conflict, what are we to do? Sometimes it helps to pull back a little bit and change our perspective. A picture from the Cassini-Huygens space craft was taken of earth while it was in orbit around Saturn. That is just an incredible feat when sit back and think on it. The picture shows earth as a pale blue dot. Everyone we have ever know, every bit of history, every conflict ever fought, took place on that little blue dot. Seen from the perspective of Saturn, that blue dot seems insignificant.
There is one thing we can know, one aspect of life that is stable and constant…the Word of our God. It has endured through many ages, empires, political ideologies, and social philosophies. Its truth does not fade with time, nor does the opinion of humanity have any impact. God is the constant.
The Gospel of John reminds the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Somehow the Word became human. That is a tremendous mystery, too much to comprehend. The vastness of creation is too much for human understanding. The one thing I know for certain is: The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. And for me, that is enough.
How do you free yourself from the limited perspective you have? What does it mean that the Word of our God will stand forever?
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