Roller Coaster Rides

“O Lord, make me know my end
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting I am!”

Psalm 39:4 ESV

When I was young, summer vacations took a small eternity. Granted, as soon as I saw a hint of a “Back to School” sale, I remember being quick to complain that life wasn’t fair and summer was far too short. But even I got a little excited about getting back to the “grind” that was Elementary School.

These days it seems a season can come and go without my even recognizing it. “Winter already?” “This jacket is brand new! I bought it in 2014.”

Has time gotten… faster? If life were a roller coaster, it’s as if the early part of our lives was the slow crawl to the very top — full of anticipation and nerves and excitement  — and then we got careers and kids and dogs and iPhones and we were careening through the ride faster than we could handle!

Sometimes, through all the noise, we are reminded of our short time here.

“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James 4:14 ESV

It is good to remember the brevity of our lives. “Teach us the number of our days,” says the Psalmist, “That we may get a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12)” Ours is the experience of someone made for eternity, but living in a fallen world.

And we have such hope. Death is not the end. Death is not the end!

Our great hope as a Christian and the central event of history is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

“If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.” (1 Cor 15:17-20 NIV)

And now, as a Christian, the One who defeated the grave has also taken residence in our hearts, and we have victory over death, too. Claim it!

“A life without hope is a life without God.” – Henry Van Dyke

Brian Jackson is President and CEO of Mighty Missouri Coffee Co., a coffee roasting company and cafe located in North Dakota, where he swims, bikes, runs, and does everything else he can to be outside. His faith journey has led him from adventures in the out-of-doors to adventures in entrepreneurism, and through it all he hopes his life points to someone greater.