He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.

Lamentations 3:4 (NIV)

Over 43 years ago, I broke my left wrist. I was riding my bike when a car pulled out in front of me. I flew off the bike and landed on my wrist. I wore a cast for eight weeks. For the next 35 years, I was fine. I did pushups and had great flexibility.

Then everything changed.

My flexibility is now gone. I have ongoing pain. I have even had a ganglion cyst for the past year (no, I have not smacked it with a Bible!).

It stinks getting older!

Even with my “getting older” issues, I cannot compare my suffering to that of the prophet Jeremiah. He was beaten and placed in stocks. He was imprisoned. He was lowered into a cistern and threatened with starvation.

Lamentations 3:4 captures the physical toll of suffering with the words, “He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.”

Ugh!

Eventually, Jeremiah died. I will too.

Of course, Lamentations is filled with expressions of grief and suffering. Jeremiah is even known as the weeping prophet. But suffering does not have the final word.

I think Psalm 30:5 says it well: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

As I get older, I recognize that I will have aches and pains. But everything I experience in this life is temporary. The aches and pains of getting older will not last forever.

My joy is coming in the morning as I focus on eternity. In fact, no matter how old I get, I am one day closer to my permanent residence with Jesus!

In the meantime, I plan to be faithful in the temporary. I plan to love God and others. I plan to be His ambassador. I will be a faithful steward of what He has entrusted to me, including my own body. And I will embrace being a theologian by seeking to know God more intimately each day.

That is how I want to live my life in the temporary while remaining focused on the eternal!

Prayer: Heavenly Father, sometimes I join Jeremiah in lamenting what I experience in this temporary life. But I submit myself to You, knowing that eternity with You is coming. Help me to be faithful with each day You give me, even when getting older stinks!

— David Beauchamp
Temporary Ministries

For more Wednesday Words and other resources from Temporary Ministries, visit:
https://temporaryministries.org/wednesday-words/

Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’”

Jeremiah 6:16 (ESV)

David’s Wednesday Word:

I have been at crossroads before.

When I retired from serving as an Army chaplain over eleven years ago, I started out as a math teacher at a local high school. I thought I could teach while also being involved in planting a church and serving as a bi-vocational pastor.

Things changed. I had a significant health issue that really kicked me hard. After only six weeks of teaching, I had to resign. I felt like I had let my students down. That decision was difficult.

When I retired, I had sought God’s direction. I had years to prepare. I settled on the math teacher option. I passed the required tests and was hired. I had a plan to become certified through a special program for veterans. Everything was going well—until it wasn’t.

When I think about what happened, it would be easy to say that God led me down the wrong path. After all, God knew that I would experience those health issues.

Well, it isn’t that cut and dried.

As I think about Jeremiah’s words, I believe I was following God on the ancient path where the good way was. I walked on it! But the good way can sometimes be a hard way. It was for me.

After I resigned from teaching, I discovered other paths along the same journey. I started my doctoral program, which eventually culminated in earning my PhD. I joined a team of church planters, which allowed me to reengage in civilian ministry. I also found a ministry to public servants that I am still involved with today.

According to Jeremiah, the problem for many people in his day was that they were willfully rejecting God’s good way. They knew the way God was calling them to walk, and they chose a different path. In doing so, they rejected the rest and blessing that come from walking in His way.

I never want to reject the good way—God’s way.

God’s way can be hard, but the eternal benefits far outweigh the temporary hardships that may come. Looking back, I can now give God glory for using a physical challenge to keep directing me along the ancient path and toward the good way.

Prayer: Almighty God, Your way—Your ancient path—is always best. As I walk with You, help me to trust You and find rest for my soul, even when the way is hard. Thank You.

— David Beauchamp
Temporary Ministries

For more Wednesday Words and other resources from Temporary Ministries, visit:
https://temporaryministries.org/wednesday-words/

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

David’s Wednesday Word:

I don’t like the word “dismayed.” For me, it implies that I am upset, worried, or alarmed by a situation that I can’t control. It can even mean that I am struck with fear, dread, or consternation. I don’t like any of those terms.

Despite my feelings about the word, I realize that I have experienced it. I remember being accused of doing something wrong when I was serving as a chaplain at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The accusation struck me to the core. I was “dismayed.”

As I think over my life, there have been many instances when I have felt that way: when my youngest daughter died in a vehicle accident; when I had to apply for food stamps just to feed my family; when I missed a step a few years ago, took a hard tumble down a hill, and couldn’t walk without assistance. Those are just a few.

Isaiah 41:10 challenges me. It tells me to “be not dismayed.” Well … that is very clear.

Fortunately, Isaiah also provides the solution. The solution is God. God is with me. God strengthens me. God helps me. God upholds me with His hand.

When I embrace the reality that God, the Creator of the universe, cares for me and loves me enough to do all of those things, then I have no reason to remain dismayed.

So how should I handle that feeling if—or perhaps when—it happens?

For me, that feeling is like a thermometer. If I am dismayed, it tells me that something needs my attention. It reminds me to examine whether I am trusting God or trying to take control of the situation on my own.

Once I recognize that, I can go to the source—God. I can confess that I have been trying to carry something by myself that I need to entrust to Him. Through confession and repentance, I can realign myself with God and live with peace and purpose, even through difficult circumstances.

I may have to go through this process multiple times, but the struggle is worth it as I choose to trust Jesus with everything that happens in my life.

That is part of what it means for me to make Him Lord.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, You know that I don’t like to be dismayed. Whenever I am, help me to quickly turn to You for strength and help. Remind me that You are with me, that You will strengthen me, and that You will uphold me. I commit myself to You again as my Lord.

— David Beauchamp
Temporary Ministries

See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.

Song of Solomon 2:11 (NIV)

David’s Wednesday Word:

It is so hot right now in Kansas! I thought we were done with 100-degree temperatures. Apparently not.

Still, despite the heat, I know summer is coming to an end. Having grown up in Texas, I am accustomed to high temperatures. We get them here in Kansas too, but I also know cooler weather will arrive soon.

In Texas, we joked that there were two seasons: “hot” and “not so hot”! I like having four distinct seasons in Kansas. There is regular change. Summer gives way to fall, fall to winter, winter to spring, and then the cycle begins again.

It is a fact—even a biblical fact—that seasons change.

Solomon almost seems to shout, “See!” The winter has passed. The rains are over. A new season has arrived.

For me, that is a reminder of the sustaining and providential involvement of God in His creation. The seasons do not remain the same forever.

Neither do the seasons of our lives.

Some seasons of my life have been very hard. Just like the large hail we experienced last week, sometimes the storms of life can be frightening, damaging, and even dangerous.

So how do I get through those storms?

First, I must remember that every season is temporary. Just as Solomon could say, “the winter is past,” I can trust the God who created the seasons through both the challenges and the opportunities of life.

I have gone through death, illness, injury, heartache, financial loss, broken relationships, and job loss. I have made parenting decisions I regret and faced painful accusations from people I respected.

But I have also experienced incredible blessings: love, relationships, memories, faith, purpose, beauty, growth, and the everyday joys of life.

So what do I focus on?

When I am going through a difficult season, I remind myself that the temporary things of this life will eventually pass away. At the same time, the blessings God gives me point toward something greater—an eternity with Him that will never pass away.

When I focus on what lasts, God gives me strength to walk through what does not.

My faith in Jesus gives me an eternal perspective for the season I am living in right now.

Whatever season you are in today, remember: the season will change.

God will not.

Prayer: Lord God Almighty, some seasons of life are painful and difficult. Help me trust You through every one of them. Give me strength to face what is temporary by keeping my eyes on what is eternal.

— David Beauchamp
Temporary Ministries

No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them.

Ecclesiastes 1:11 (NIV)

David’s Wednesday Word:

I just looked at my phone. I have more than 11,000 pictures in my photo library. Crazy! I literally don’t have time to look at them all, much less organize them.

Yet those pictures hold memories. And so many of those memories make me smile.

My mother passed away about 18 months ago. Before that, she had to leave her home. In that home were the memories of nearly 90 years of life, including countless photographs. Many were of people and places I did not know. My mother knew them, but I didn’t.

It brought sadness to my heart to realize that so many of the memories she treasured could not be preserved. Some stories were passed on to us. Others were known only to her.

Going through that experience challenged me to think differently about my own photos and memories. I have come to realize that most of them are primarily meaningful to me. They may have meaning to my family for a while, but generations come and go.

The words of Ecclesiastes 1:11 reinforce that truth. As time unfolds, even people who were once deeply loved and well known are eventually forgotten.

So, what is my legacy?

I have concluded that my legacy cannot ultimately be found in stuff—not even in photographs that preserve memories important to me. My legacy must be found in something greater.

I started Temporary Ministries around a simple truth: Be faithful in the temporary while remaining focused on the eternal.

Photos are valuable. Memories are precious. But neither lasts forever.

Our relationship with God does.

I understand that someday I too will be part of a former generation. Eventually, my name may be forgotten. But being remembered is not the legacy that matters most.

My desire is to pass on what is eternal—to my family and to others: a life of following Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

That is a legacy worth leaving.

Prayer: Father in heaven, as my years continue to add up, remind me that being remembered by others is temporary. Use my life to point others toward You, and help me leave behind an eternal legacy of faithfully following Jesus Christ.

— David Beauchamp
Temporary Ministries

Beginning this week, David’s Wednesday Word is coming through Temporary Ministries. The message isn’t changing—just where it comes from. You can subscribe here: temporaryministries.org.