The People is Grass

I noticed a yellow-y-green hue across the paddock, while I was busy taking photos of the bright blossoms on the fruit trees. Must be just those little yellow clover flowers, I thought. But I walked over to have a look, and it was not those common flowers. Instead, there were hundreds, or maybe thousands, of these tiny, intricate fly-catcher-type plants. They were so miniature, and so detailed, with perfectly round drops of sticky stuff on their many tips. 

(By this point you’ve probably realized that I’m not practiced at detailed descriptions, and I’ll leave you to study the photos to see what I’m talking about.)  

A couple of days later, as I was reading in Isaiah, I came upon these verses: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth… surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” Isaiah 40:7-8 I’d always understood these verses as saying: life is fragile and short; we wither and fade just like flowers and grass. Of course, that’s still true, but on this particular morning, I saw something different. 

There’s a contrast presented between the short life of flowers and grass, and God’s word which lasts forever. It says the people is grass. So it could read: People will fail you. They will fade and wither, not be there for you anymore. Even friends you thought would be there always; they’re still grass, maybe they won’t. But, don’t worry, because God’s word is always going to be there for you; always, and forever, and for eternity. You can rely on it, you can build your hopes on it, you can live your life by it, because it will never change; it’s solid.

So many things in today’s world, even people, are like grass. They’re transitory, they don’t last, they’re there one moment, and gone the next. We’ve got to have an anchor, something we can grip on to when everything else we know is perishing, shaking and falling apart. There’s only One, and His immutable word that we can trust, that lasts forever, that we can hold on to and know with a surety that He won’t pass away like grass, or whither like flowers. “Lo,” He assures us, “I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:20)

P.s Happy November! I can't believe it's here already. What have you got planned for this month?