In the Face of Uncertainty, Put Your Hope in God

My wife and I recently started a renovation project on the old garage detached from our house.

It was built in the 1930’s so it looks more like a tiny barn. A supportive beam is cracked, causing the roof to lean on one side. The faux brick siding is chipped and peeling. It’s in bad shape.

As we were nailing a blue tarp over it to protect what’s left from the elements, I wondered: Why are we doing this? Years from now it will just erode again. Nothing lasts forever. This wasn’t a morbid thought, just a question that popped in my head. And it occurred to me that there are a couple of reasons why we rebuild and repair things.

One, God wired us to respond to beauty. We’d rather look at a sturdy, freshly-painted garage than a collapsed heap of rotted wood. A towering Gothic cathedral is easier on the eyes than an old warehouse. 

Humans are compelled to make things beautiful.

That’s what God does, and when we do it, we are acting in his image.

But there’s another reason. As humans, we inherently resist decay. We fight against aging and entropy. We are creatures made to live and promote life. It’s why we bathe ourselves and brush our teeth. It’s why we try to eat well and exercise to stay healthy. We are resisting our own demise. 

Relationships fall apart too, if we don’t work to maintain them. Spouses make selfish choices and stop communicating. They have affairs. Or they simply neglect one another, becoming strangers under a shared roof. 

All things on this Earth will eventually die. People, animals, trees, flowers. The Prophet Isaiah knew it: “The grass withers, the flower wilts, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Jesus echoed those words in Matthew 24:35: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

God is eternal. He doesn’t die. And we are his children, so we don’t either. 

Our physical bodies will pass away, but we are more than flesh. We are flesh and spirit. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).

In this world, we have an obligation to take care of our physical bodies because they are the gift he’s given us in which to live and move and have our being. We are the temples in which God dwells. But one day, when we can fight degeneration no longer, our body will die. But our spirit will go on living.

Even now, when we develop our relationship with God, our spirit is infused with life. “Therefore, we are not discouraged; rather, although our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). Eternal life is already happening.

All this to say: We don’t need to live in fear of death.

For mysterious reasons, God has allowed it to be part of life.

We may not like it. We don’t have to enjoy getting wrinkles or achy joints. If we get sick, it’s good to fight it and try to become well. But, whether in life or death, the God who loves us is with us.

Right now, rain is whipping against the blue tarp we hung over our garage. We are trying to protect it so we can restore it to something beautiful. We’re doing it because God made us to foster beauty, be creative, and live.

Have you lost someone or something you love? Then grieve. We’re wired to do that too. “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12:15). But then go on living. Keep building. Repair broken things. Invest in your relationships to make them thriving and healthy.

And when all things pass away, don’t be afraid. When we cling to our eternal God, it will be the beginning of something new and good.