This passage reminds me of a story that saddened me recently: I bought a couple houseplants a while ago and they were thriving. These plants brightened my home and mood every time I glanced at them.
Sitting on the windowsill, they kept growing larger and more towards the sun with each passing day. If I cared for them properly, they would keep growing in this way, seemingly forever, and even the pieces that fell off of the plants started to grow new plants.
I planned to move them outside when the weather turned warmer so that they could keep growing and spawning new plants.
I went away from home for a few days and watered the plants before leaving.
Apparently, I watered them too much, because when I returned the plants were dying. I was upset at myself, thinking about what I could have done differently, questioning why I did what I did in the first place.
These plants could have gone outside and outlasted me. They could have grown for centuries if only I had watered them too much.
How can I possibly predict what will happen? What happens to this plant, to me, to everything is not for me to decide.
Only one thing is permanent: the word of God.
I felt sad about these plants, far more than I should have. I happened to see this passage a few days later and thought instead about how lucky those plants were, how lucky I am to have heard the word of the Lord.
Plants, people, and all things come and go. The Lord lasts forever.
