During our visit to Huntington Beach, I noticed this very small cluster of sand, perhaps the remnants of a footprint. The silhouette cast by the setting sun made it look like a miniature castle. Moments after this photo, it was gone, swept away by the waves.

James 4:13-15 states, “Now look here, you people who say, ‘Today, or tomorrow, we will go to such-and-such a town and spend a year there, and trade, and make some money.’ You have no idea what the next day will bring. What is your life? You are a mist which appears for a little while and then disappears again. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we shall live, and we shall do this, or that.’”

We spend so much time constructing our tiny castles, planning our days, creating our goals. All of this, even at its best, is simply an illusion of control.

If the current Coronavirus situation has done anything, it emphasizes James’ wisdom. Who would have thought only a few months ago that life would be as it now. 

It proves after all of these centuries that our lives are still truly just a mist. Or like sand sculptures on the edge of the surf.