If Everything I Knew Disappeared

Hello, friends. 🙂 Today, I am presenting a poem about holding on to the things and people of this temporary place called earth. We all struggle to let go of things–whether these things are ungodly friends who lead us into temptation, social media accounts that consume all of our time, or a job that we refuse to leave because we’re scared to embrace God’s true plan for our lives. 

I want to tell you this simple message: Everything you treasure, including your very life, could disappear in an instant. 

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. (James 4:14 NASB)

Everything and everyone you know  could be gone with a single *poof*. Everything in this life, including life itself, is a vapor in the wind.

Except for Jesus. He is beyond this life and this world. He alone remains.

So instead of clinging to things and people, made from the dust of the earth, cling to the One who created them. Because He remains.

I hope this poem encourages and inspires you to rely solely on the Lord.

 

If everything I knew

Disappeared into the air,

Would I turn to run away?

Or would I recall Your care?

 

Would I rush into the darkness?

Or would I rush to Your arms?

Would I linger in my sadness?

Or would I run to Your heart?

 

I know I want You, Lord,

But I want the world, too.

I know I cannot have both,

And so now I have to choose.

Yes, I cling to empty things;

And I know my grasp is tight.

But Your grasp on me is tighter,

So, in You, I must abide.

 

If my fam’ly moved away,

I would never be the same.

If I had to leave my friends,

I would linger in the pain.

Would I put up barriers?

Or would I cling to Your side?

Would I hold onto Your goodness

If I had to say goodbye?

 

I know I want You, Lord,

But I want the world, too.

I know I cannot have both,

And so now I have to choose.

Yes, I cling to empty things;

And I know my grasp is tight.

But Your grasp on me is tighter,

So, in You, I must abide.

 

I’m holding on so tightly

To vapors in the wind.

In a moment, all could vanish;

And my life would feel so dim.

I must loosen my strong grip

On these vapors in the wind,

But I need Your guidance, Lord;

So please strengthen me within.

 

I know I want You, Lord,

But I want the world, too.

I know I cannot have both,

And so now I have to choose.

Yes, I cling to empty things;

And I know my grasp is tight.

But Your grasp on me is tighter,

So, in You, I must abide.

 

If everything I knew

Disappeared into the air,

I would need to run to You

Because You’re always there.