We can trust God even when life crumbles.

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A voice said, “Shout!”
I asked, “What should I shout?”
“Shout that people are like the grass.
Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field.
The grass withers and the flowers fade
beneath the breath of the LORD.
And so it is with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:6-8 New Living Translation

No one is doing anything to keep this bunkhouse from deteriorating at the Mary Murphy mine, and it hasn’t taken long for this building to look like it does. In doing research on the mine, I discovered pictures from the 1990’s. Twenty-some years ago the building looked different. More siding clung to the walls. More roofing was in tact. More wood covered the floors.

Mary Murphy Mine, Colorado

The contrast between this bunkhouse, built with human hands, and the God established mountain in the background is symbolic of our lives.

There is an enduring quality to the things which God builds, but the things we build seem to crumble and decay. We build a career only to have that career pulled out from under us. We build a family only to see that family disintegrate. We build a house only to sell that house to someone who doesn’t care for it like we do.

Does God care that the things we build fall apart? Does he care about our houses, families and careers?

God acknowledges the frailty of our lives through the prophet Isaiah. The grass only lasts for a season. The flowers bloom but for a breath of time, yet the word that storms from the mouth of God lasts for eternity. Yes God cares, but not always as we expect him to care.

He cares for us by never changing. When our lives fall apart we can trust God to stay the same. His strength, forgiveness and wisdom will never change. Through Jesus, the Word made flesh, we can trust in the character of God.

He will not change even when life is falling apart.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner