Life’s Gives and Takes

Out of all the Indiana Jones movies with their classic and memorable one-liners, I have one quote from the last movie on instant recall. Indy is in his office. His co-worker comes in. Toward the end of their conversation, the co-worker points to the picture of Indy’s recently deceased father (Sean Connery from the previous movie) and says, “You’ve reached the point where life takes more than it gives.” I think I felt the gut-punch of that line harder than Indy.

Twelve years ago, I was a young 58-year-old father of five and grandfather of one. I had recently lost my mother and two jobs I loved, and, with the housing market crash putting the economy into a depression, our mortgage was upside down. Then I looked deeper into the shadows of the past and realized most of the people written on the pages of my memories were all gone.

When I considered the one grandson might be all we would ever get, I thought we were losing the joys and memories of life many times faster than we were gaining them. A gloom hovered over me for a while. I thought of the movie quote at odd times throughout the year, even dropping it into conversations when it seemed to fit…until I realized life taking more than it gives was a lie. Life is not like pumping air into a punctured tire where the hole grows into a tear.

Discovery Began

When our days begin to look alike, it’s tempting to fall into that mindset. I recently quipped that doctors’ appointments are so useful in retirement because they help us remember what day it is. Likewise, jobs can be so routine to make one day blend into the next. Too many times, I’ve seen lives compared to the hamster running on his spinning wheel, spending a great amount of energy but getting nowhere. We see our lives like this and think the waxing and waning is the circle of life, but that’s because we have our eyes turned in the wrong direction.

The psalmist instructs us to “lift up [our] eyes to the hills—From whence comes [our] help? [Our] help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2 NKJV). Jeremiah gives us an even greater reason. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV).

Yes, God’s Word exposes the lie about the perceived ebb and flow of life. His love toward us never ends. There’s not even a pause or a hiccup. It never ceases, not even for a millisecond. Along with his love, we receive an equally endless provision of his mercies. Let me add emphasis: they never get stale or moldy. They are new and fresh every morning. Every day we can learn and experience something new in God’s inexhaustible love. He promises no same-old-same-old moments. Nothing routine. The experience is ours as long as we keep seeking first his kingdom and righteousness, as Jesus taught.

When we remember this, every day is a new beginning. Oh, we may have duties or projects which stretch beyond our twenty-four-hour days, and we may have to deal with the same situations day after day. Repetition does not stand in God’s way of beginning each day totally new. We can, too, if we look at what he wants us to see.

Let’s look again at the verses in Lamentations where Jeremiah listed three powerful attributes to abide in: God’s steadfast love, God’s mercy, and God’s faithfulness. What an awesome trio!

Love

God’s love is enough to overwhelm us. Paul prayed we could comprehend the width and length and depth and height of the love that surpasses knowledge. Paul states his purpose for wanting such understanding for us: that we would be filled with the fulness of Christ (See Ephesians 3:18-19). But wait. There’s more. Jeremiah says God’s love is steadfast. Ponder these synonyms to steadfast: committed, reliable, steady, true, constant, unchanging, unwavering, unhesitating, unfaltering, and the list continues with words describing the certainty of its presence with us.

Mercy

God’s mercy has no end in his ministry toward us. He keeps on giving more. My mind toyed with the alternative to mercy. I thought of the churchwardens of old with the long poles they used to pop someone on the head or shoulder who had fallen asleep or was engaged in some distraction. I wondered how many bruises I would have to show if God were a strict churchwarden throughout my day instead of the righteous extender of mercy. God adds to our experience in him by giving us a fresh start of his mercy every morning.

Faithfulness

Last in Jeremiah’s list is God’s faithfulness. And like God, his faithfulness is great. I won’t even attempt to define great except, as it pertains to God, greatness must incorporate the love and mercy and their attributes: steadfast, never ending, and new every morning.

I Choose

Every day we can choose to begin new with Jesus or begin stale with our old self and yesterday’s worries.  I have found I can face the morning news and social media banter better after rising with these promises from God foremost in my mind. The psalmist must have caught a glimpse of this when he penned, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere” (Psalm 84:10 NIV). I encourage you to read the entire Psalm as it expresses the yearning desire and the rewards for seeking the Lord’s presence.

Now, to update you on whether life continued to deplete for me, I’ll run the numbers again. If you did the math, you have figured out I am seventy. God continued in the past twelve years to add more to our lives than take away. All five of our children are now married. Our grandchildren count exploded to ten (including three step-grandchildren) with prospects for even more. And even in retirement, each day is a new beginning.

Charles Huff

Charles Huff is a Bible teacher, minister, speaker, husband, father and grandfather. He and his wife have held pastors seminars and taught in various churches, including remote mountain churches in the Philippines. His writing has appeared in www.christiandevotions.us, The Upper Room; articles in three anthologies: Gifts from Heaven: True Stories of Miraculous Answers to Prayer compiled by James Stuart Bell; Short and Sweet Too and Short and Sweet Takes a Fifth, both compiled by Susan Cheeves King.

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