Without Fear

By: Bailey Rains

Recently, an absolutely amazing woman I knew passed away. At her funeral, the pastor reminded us just how short our lives are in the expanse of eternity. I never thought about it this way, but he said our lives on earth are actually the shortest part of our existence. After our time on earth, we spend eternity elsewhere. If you’ve chosen to live your life for Jesus, you get to spend eternity in heaven.

Eternity is such a long time... like the longest time ever, actually.

James 4:14 says, “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Think of a spray bottle. When you pull the lever, there’s a mist. Then it’s gone. But whatever was in the bottle is on a different surface. That’s what our lives on earth are like. Our lives are so short, but we do have the opportunity to leave our mark, so to speak.

I’m not saying any of this to make you fearful. I believe there can be a healthy urgency about your life. It’s essential to my personal life that I have moments like these where I remember my problems are so tiny in the sight of eternity. That’s why I’m writing this. I’m not writing this to make you afraid of tomorrow or wonder if you’ll live through tomorrow. Psalm 91 reminds us that with a long life we will be satisfied.

You don’t have to be afraid of tomorrow.

I can be so distracted by a dirty counter in my house, especially if I have guests. But I promise no one’s life will ever be changed by my clean counter. It’s okay to have a clean house, but years down the road, no one will care if I had clean counters. But there are words I can speak and actions I can do to leave a “legacy” on earth. Those kinds of things will be remembered. Even if it’s not something I personally did, it could have been a chain reaction.

The woman I spoke of earlier was the type of person who left a legacy. She was so kind, gentle, smiled, laughed, and made people feel valued. She was selfless and wise.

I don’t know if her counters were clean. But I know she made countless people feel loved.

This is about to be cheesy, but I think it’s necessary. The world can be a better place because of you. It really can. People can be nicer because you were nice. There can be more love because you loved. There can be more joy because you laughed and were positive.

Without living in fear, I challenge you to think about what you want to leave behind. Who do you want to be remembered as? What do you want people to say about you when you go? Because remember, our time on earth is the shortest part of our lives. I want to live this life preparing for the next portion: eternity. Jesus came so we could live life to the full. I don’t know what that looks like for you this week, but for me it’s smiling as much as I can. It’s being kind to others who aren’t kind back. I want to do far more that really matters than little things that don’t. I don’t want to waste any time if my life is simply a mist. Live fully this week.

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