An Encouragement to Persevere

As for man, his days are like grass;

    he flourishes like a flower of the field;

 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,

    and its place knows it no more.

 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from 

everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,

    and his righteousness to children's children,

 to those who keep his covenant

    and remember to do his commandments.

 The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

    and his kingdom rules over all.

Ps. 103: 15-19

Images: Grand Teton NP, July 2019

I am an endless note taker, a scribbler down of ideas, quotes, verses, thoughts, mottoes, memories... I collect ideas and truths about life and eternity, and things that contribute to living meaningfully and with eternity in mind. I don't mean to be so pensive, and philosophy disinterests me, but I seem to have been created to see the profound in the ordinary and mundane. Maybe we all are this way, but just express it differently. I write in journals, on scraps of paper, receipts, bulletins, envelops, books, screens. I occasionally take pictures of my notes with my phone for safer keeping because I know what inevitably happens to bits of paper. My notes, if they survive, are squirreled away for later development or simply left for pondering at some undetermined future time. My little bits of written words are precious to me as they represent learning, growing, and gratefulness; what life would be without progress in these areas is unimaginable.

Many times my notes are just personal impression of an other's work. There is nothing new under the sun, just personal learning and application. Below are words I wrote on the pages of a book to summarize my take-away from a short biography. I'm transcribing here before I set the book back on the shelf and these words are buried away with the other notes within.

Persevere: The closing summation and value of your work is not found in this lifetime. Press into the opportunities God sets before you with faithful obedience and dependence, knowing God determines your present circumstances with great care and sovereign control. Trust that the final value of your work and the fruitfulness of your endeavors will ultimately be determined and eternally rewarded by God alone, not according to what we see now or how others pronounce verdict. And no matter how many things seem to go wrong according to our perspective, faithful work in the name of the Lord is never a net loss. "Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." (1 Cor. 15:58)

~Katherine