During the 1950s, a particular couple drove back to Oklahoma to see the farm they had left 20 years earlier during the dust bowl. They talked about clearing away brush and trees and planting new crops. They talked about the sun that had parched the land and the dust storms that had left it barren.


As they drove along the dirt road toward their farm, one of them said, “It’s been 20 years. I don’t know what the house must look like.” They stopped the car at the site of their farm and exclaimed. “It’s gone!” The couple looked out at a few trees and tall grass. “It’s like all our work had never happened.”


The psalmist would have understood that comment. The work of our hands can be wiped out through fire, flood, dust storms, or simply decay with age. Jesus’ work at the cross shows us the extent of God’s love. He withheld nothing to provide for us. As time passes and we face unexplained loss, we can stand firm on God’s enduring love. Through it we flourish and are brought from withered hopelessness back to life.