Last week’s rain seemed to last only a brief time but actually continued over a couple of days. Two days of mist, appearing for a brief while then vanishing. And now, it’s autumn. As a child, I thought summer lasted forever, but now seasons seem to fly by. Soon Keith and I will be mowing dead meadow grasses, blowing leaves out of ditches, and stacking firewood for winter.

Although the word “brief” does not appear in most Bible translations, the concept does. Brief as in short in duration or expression: brief lives, brief times, brief statements. Brevity.

For a brief discussion about this concept along with a delicious recipe, see my Friday Happy Hours post here.

Brief Lives

Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:14 NIV

Compared to eternity, life is short, brief and uncertain, like a passing mist, James states in 4:14. In the next verse, he calls us to humility. “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”  Our overconfidence and over-planning will not pay off, because we are not in control. Thus, we must hold our plans loosely and rely on God. 

Because life is brief, we have a choice: to “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die” or live being the people God wants us to be. In a Roundtable published in the September/October 2026 issue of Christianity Today, titled “How to Retire Like a Christian,” a pastor, a researcher, and a financial adviser discussed how we can serve God in this stage of life. Retired pastor Walter Thomas said, “The first 25 years of my life were spent preparing. The next 50 years were spent doing. The last quarter of my life would be spent finally becoming. God intends for Christians to keep on becoming.”

Becoming has certainly been my experience in this third season of life. Growth has come not by checking off a bucket list but through trials and travails—and how much truth I’m willing to accept about myself. One truth that has come to light recently is that I am competitive, for better when I compete with myself and worse when I compete with others. Only after repenting can I honestly say, “Here I am,” through the work of the Spirit. 

Brief Times

They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. Revelation 17:10 NIV

Revelation 17:10 is John’s prophecy about the historical world empires that have fallen— Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece—the current empire Rome and one yet to come: the evil king, maybe the anti-Christ, who will last only a brief time. Since God’s time is not the same as ours, what could this passage be saying to us about brevity?

All of us, king or commoner, will die and be judged based on the fruit of our existence. So, another choice: to do the work of the Spirit or not. As Pastor Alistair Begg wrote in a recent reflection: “Without question, you will show the world the fruit of the teaching you receive. When people come around you, what will they discover? Will they see judgmentalism or bitterness or haughtiness or self-righteousness? Will they sense passivity and a lack of conviction? Or will they taste the sweet fruit of joy, peace, love, and righteousness?” Kings will answer these questions the same as everyone else when Christ returns.

I relish the thought that bad and good will be judged equally until realizing I’ve numbered myself among the good—competing—and I am not good. Can I point to evidence in my life of doing good and not doing bad, of fighting temptations, striving for virtues, and repentantly asking for forgiveness? We are challenged not to delay repentance, as we are a mist that appears for a brief while and then vanishes. In truth, “becoming” is NOW.

Brief Statements

that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. Ephesians 3:3 NIV

Paul uses the word “brief” in Ephesians 3:3 to mean concise or short. And the mystery, the divine truth, made known to him by revelation—directly by the Holy Spirit—is that the church includes Gentile and Jewish believers in Christ as co-heirs, members of the same spiritual body. Through the gospel, believers share God’s promises.

Our pastor’s brief statements and summaries help us remember, like phrases to keep in our back pockets for ready referral. For example, yesterday’s scripture lesson, Mathew 21:23-32. The chief priests and elders questioned Jesus’ authority, so He told them the parable of the two sons. When the father asked his sons to go work in the vineyard, the first son said no but later went and the second son said yes but did not go. Two obstinate sons. Pastor said that in the work of the Spirit, we start anew daily. Will we be an obstinate son or will we say, “I will go,” then go? I will go – the brief, concise, back-pocket phrase for Jews and Gentiles alike.

Lest we think this is an easy choice, let us remember that following Christ is a hard and narrow road, contrary to almost everything this world has told us about ourselves. To have the mind of Jesus, here’s a list provided by one of my favorite faith reflection writers, Anne Kennedy:

1. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit
2. In humility count others more significant than yourself
3. Look not to the interests of yourself but to those of others
4. Not count equality with God or presidents a thing to be grasped
5. Empty yourself
6. Take the form of a servant
7. Become obedient to the cross

We can’t do this by ourselves, not matter how hard we try. But this is what “I will go” means. More becoming truths to keep in our back pockets until, like brief mists, we vanish. 

Linkup with Five Minute Friday

On Fridays I send Friday Happy Hours: a recipe from our kitchen and a story about marriage in the third season of life. It is free, it arrives at the end of the week, and it gives a lighter touch to the experiences in this season. Come sit down with us – here.

Wisdom Builds Her House

In 2010 I left a 34-year career in education to build a mountain home with my husband. The literal house went up. Building the metaphorical one took longer. Four mysteries got in the way: my husband’s daughter, who I never met; who I was once I was neither teaching nor raising children; what really happened in 1957 when a man came to rob our house and hurt my mother; and how those things were connected. A memoir from Brandylane Publishers, in paperback, e-book, and audiobook. Find it here.