The Day Lily’s Choice

“Choose you this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – Joshua 24:15

Life Blooming

Something I have realized about growing older: life is much like the daily lily. It blooms for only a day, struggling just to reach the light, and by tomorrow it withers away. In the same way, we live, we laugh, we build memories and legacies—yet all the while, our days here are numbered.

Still, this is not the end. I believe, as Scripture promises, that my soul will continue long after my body returns to dust. Nature whispers this truth to us: today there is life, tomorrow it is gone. “For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14).

And yet, what lies on the other side brings joy to my heart. The mysteries of eternity, unseen and incomprehensible in this life, stir up an excitement within me. The thought that we are moving closer to the day when we shall see Him gives me butterflies in my spirit.

The earth itself testifies to His reality. Beneath us, it is a boiling pot, a fire that burns eternally. The ground erupts, the heat rises, and the heavens stretch above us. And still some say there is no Creator, no heaven, no hell. But the evidence is before our eyes—creation itself crying out the truth of the One who made it. “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen” (Romans 1:20).

As we watch what is happening in the world, in our nation, and even on our streets, the question presses: Who is on the right side? What is right and what is wrong? Who will you choose? There is a dark evil moving in this age, manifesting in ways we could never comprehend. But this is the test: will we fail, give up hope, and stop believing as the world rages war against God? Or will we stand, holding fast to the faith once delivered to the saints?

Today, fear is the weapon of choice. I listened recently to Native Land and heard Tiffany Cross in tears, warning about the National Guard in Washington, fearing that Black Americans may lose civil rights. Fear is everywhere—and fear sells.

But as a people, we did not survive centuries of oppression by fear alone. Since 1619, through laws designed to strip us of humanity, through the 1700s when codes were enacted to lock us into bondage, through slavery itself—survival did not come because man’s laws suddenly shifted in our favor. We endured because of God’s hand, His providence, and a faith that kept us alive even when everything around us declared we were nothing.

That was yesterday. And while yesterday matters, we cannot live chained to it. If we only look backward, fear will rule us. We must be ever-present in the here and now, trusting in God alone. That trust may sound naïve in a world saturated with cynicism and suspicion. In fact, it is the same charge Ivan hurled at his brother Alyosha in Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. When Ivan told the story of the Grand Inquisitor, painting a picture of humanity so afraid of freedom that it would rather see Christ imprisoned, Alyosha’s simple reply was: “That is Christ.” To Ivan, Alyosha seemed foolish, too pure, too childlike.

But Alyosha’s response wasn’t weakness—it was strength. It was the quiet, radical strength of faith in God’s sovereignty. He refused to be swayed by fear, control, or the illusion of power. He chose to believe that Christ still reigns.

Dostoevsky also gives us the contrast of Alyosha and Lise. Two young souls, drawn together in innocence, yet standing at a fork in the road. Alyosha chooses faith, humility, and love—his heart softens and grows. Lise, on the other hand, turns bitter, mocking, and self-destructive. It is as if before them lies the same apple from Eden: one eats, the other refuses. One embraces despair, the other clings to God.

Alyosha’s final words to the children at Ilyusha’s funeral capture the choice before us:

“You must know that there is nothing higher, or stronger, or sounder, or more useful afterwards in life, than some good memory, especially a memory of childhood, of home. A beautiful, holy memory preserved from childhood can be the single most important thing in our lives. And if a man has only one such memory left in his heart, it may someday save him.”

Having recently read The Brothers Karamazov, I can’t help but think about the three brothers: one angry, one cynical, and one faithful. Alyosha was faithful—faithful to God and faithful to man. And I ask myself: which one do I want to be today, in our current situation? It is easy to be angry like Dmitri when I see what the left does—progressives who care only about power. It is easy to grow cynical like Ivan when I see what the right does—clinging to race and pride. But where does that leave us? Somewhere in the middle, watching both sides grasp for self-esteem, while God simply calls us to be steady, to keep studying, to keep believing.

The Lily

Sometimes I do feel like the lily. I feel the weight of age, and I know my beauty is beginning to fade, yet my roots are growing deeper and stronger. I understand now what I could not see when I was younger: the lily teaches me that beauty may be brief, but God’s garden always holds another bloom tomorrow. Its short life is not wasted, because in its season it showed forth the glory of God.

So it is with me. When I think about my age, and when I look at the turmoil of this world, my heart sometimes falters. I worry. I lose hold of faith for a moment and gasp at the darkness of mankind. But then I remember: there is beauty even in the struggle. Beauty that is quiet. Beauty that is hidden. Beauty that is sometimes unrecognizable in the chaos of our circumstances—and yet it is there.

That beauty makes me long for a place more glorious than anything I can see with my eyes, touch with my hands, or even imagine with my mind. A place where the brevity of this life gives way to eternity with Christ.

Life is brief. Tomorrow it fades away. But today we can be strong, courageous, and beautiful in the way God has chosen for us. “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24).

“This is the Day Lily’s choice: to bloom full today, knowing it will fade tomorrow, and to leave behind roots of faith that testify to the God who planted it here.”

Closing Prayer

Lord, in an age of fear and endless warnings, help me not to be swayed. Remind me that my survival and my hope do not come from man’s laws but from Your eternal Word. Keep me present in today, trusting You as Alyosha did, even when the world calls that faith naïve. Give me courage to choose life in Christ, no matter the darkness around me. May my life, like the lily, bloom for Your glory and leave behind roots of faith for generations to come. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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