Words to Live By

Once upon a time, a powerful Eastern monarch asked the wisest men in his court to give him a bit of wisdom in one sentence that would lift him up and encourage him when he suffered hardship and would bring him back down to reality when life was good and he felt arrogant.

Courtesy Google.com

The wise men mulled it over for weeks and finally came up with the answer. The king had the sentence engraved in his ring, which he wore everywhere he went--from throne to battlefield, to funerals when he lost loved ones to death, to his treasury when he counted his millions.

Each time the king read the inscription on his ring, curiosity soared among the citizenry. "What could it say?" they murmured among themselves.

Finally, after many years, the king died. Still desiring to discover the truth that had kept their king going all those years through all kinds of joys and sorrows, the citizens removed the ring from his finger and discovered the answer to their question.

Engraved in the gold they read,

"This too shall pass."

Yes, those words certainly give perspective to life's joys and sorrows.

One of my favorite phrases in the Bible, which is repeated frequently throughout the Gospels, is "And it came to pass." Nothing in this life comes to stay because this life is fleeting.

The psalmist wrote,

As for man, his days are like grass;

As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

And its place remembers it no more.

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting

On those who fear Him,

And His righteousness to children's children,

To such as keep His covenants,

And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

Psalm 103:15-18, NKJV

Peter wrote that when the day of the Lord comes, even the heavens will pass away, the very elements themselves will disappear, and the earth and everything on it will be judged (see 2 Peter 3:10). Why then do we work so hard for earthly things that are destined to pass away?

Instead, Peter encourages Christians to "make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in [God's] sight" (v. 14).

During my childhood, I spent my summers with my missionary grandparents in Pelican, Alaska. In a prominent place on their wall hung a plaque which read,

Courtesy Goggle.com

This little poem has guided my life and influenced all of my choices, reminding me to live with eternity's values in view.

"This too shall pass." Yes, in terms of eternity, the things of this earth, both good and bad, are temporary. They will all pass away.

Only what we do for Christ has any lasting value. I want my life to count for eternity. How about you?

Bears, Dreams, and Decisions

When I was a child, bears often inhabited my dreams, or more specifically, my nightmares. Perhaps an encounter with a bear when I was four years old triggered them (Encounter with Bears). Probably, growing up in Alaska where bears were often more numerous than people and the grizzly stories of bear attacks I heard contributed to their frequency.

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When I became an adult, those scary nocturnal encounters stopped--until I joined a writing group in 2007.

I dreamed that I was standing on the sidewalk in front of a large church that had two entryways--one at each end of the block. I was midway between them when I glanced up and spotted a grizzly bear galloping down the intersecting street right toward me.

My first reaction was disbelief. What was a bear doing in a city?

Then paralyzing fear surged through me. My head swiveled toward one entryway and then the other. Each entry had several steps to climb. Both doors were closed. Which one could I reach before the bear attacked me?

As I hesitated in indecision, the slobbering bear reached me. Just as it was about to pounce, my strangled scream woke me up.

Even after my pounding heart, throbbing head, and trembling body calmed, the nightmare stayed with me. Why did I have a nightmare about a bear? I hadn't had one in years. Why now?

At my writing group the next week, someone had written about a dream, so we were discussing dreams and what they mean. I told them about my nightmare.

One lady asked, "Are you struggling with a decision--a choice you need to make?"

Just as sunbeams bursting through dark clouds illuminate a spot below, a personal dilemma came into focus as though highlighted. Since I was a teenager, I had wanted to write novels.

For years I had been writing short stories, articles, and church school curriculum on assignment, and for the previous four years, a daily devotional for the website of The Sound of Life, a network of Christian radio stations. Along with all my responsibilities as a pastor's wife and minister myself, those assignments consumed my creative energy.

The bear in my nightmare showed me that time was running out. I was in my early sixties. If I was ever going to fulfill my dream of writing novels, I needed to make some changes--now.

The radio network could make other arrangements, so I gave notice that I'd finish writing devotionals at the end of the year. I devoted that time to writing the novels I'd always wanted to write. Two of them have been published, and I'm working on the third in my historical Christian fiction books in my Alaskan Waters series.

http://www.amazon.com/Till-Storm-Passes-Alaskan-Waters-ebook/dp/B00BYIY378/
http://www.amazon.com/Star-Steer-Alaskan-Waters-Series-ebook/dp/B00NP272FQ/

Have you ever had a dream that seemed to have a deeper meaning? That gave you direction? I would love to hear about it in a comment below.