I was on a cruise last year and as I stood on that boat looking out over the vast Pacific Ocean, I was reminded of my insignificance. All around me was the largest body of water in the world. Here I was, a little speck on a huge ship that was also a little speck in the middle of the huge ocean.
Then I happened to turn around and see that as the ship went through the water, it caused a lot of turbulence. But within a couple of seconds, the water closed up and everything was back to normal. Then the thought hit me. This is me. I’ll go through this life for 80 years or so, Lord willing, and cause a little stir. But after I’m gone, it will all go back to normal.
Talk about a sense of insignificance. Yet in reflecting on that, I realized that the advertising industry has picked up on this feeling we all share to some degree or another. Virtually every advertisement we see is designed to exploit our innate need for significance. Yet Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God set eternity in the heart of man. In other words, we were made for something more than just eating, sleeping, entertaining and going to work.
So where do we find significance in the big sea of life? The answer is very simple. It is in how God values you and me. You and I are significant because we are known intimately by the Creator of that big sea. He has set His affections on us. We are the object of His love. Jeremiah 31:3 is a reminder that God has “loved you with an everlasting love; therefore [He has] drawn you with lovingkindness.”
It’s not so much the impact I have on the world that should be my legacy, although I aim to contribute what I can and should. Rather, it is that I was loved by God and knew His love while here. That is my goal – to know Him more.
