A story is told of a telephone operator who received a call every day from the same man, asking for the time of day. After a few weeks of this, she asked him why he was asking the time of her. "To set my watch," he said, "because I have to blow the whistle at my factory every day at exactly noon." To his surprise, the woman replied, "Oh, my! I set my watch every day by that whistle signal!" Can you imagine the bafflement of them both as they realized the lack of certainty of what they each had presumed was a sure standard?
This could be a picture of our world today. More and more, people are realizing they have built a sense of security on false foundations. What theories and views of life that seemed to have worked in the past now leave us feeling bankrupt. The ideas and answers other men have offered us have deviated from a safe standard, just as the whistle signal deviated from the true time. And we are left with an undercurrent of discontentment running rampant beneath the surface of our lives. Many of us may have even lost confidence that there is any such thing for the human race as a future.
This could be a picture of our world today. More and more, people are realizing they have built a sense of security on false foundations. What theories and views of life that seemed to have worked in the past now leave us feeling bankrupt. The ideas and answers other men have offered us have deviated from a safe standard, just as the whistle signal deviated from the true time. And we are left with an undercurrent of discontentment running rampant beneath the surface of our lives. Many of us may have even lost confidence that there is any such thing for the human race as a future.
Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, and inventor who is considered one of the greatest scientists of classical antiquity. He was the first to explain the principle of levers, and he is remembered for an assertion regarding having a lever long enough to even move the earth. The key was having a fulcrum for his lever that was outside of the earth! And, indeed, that is just what we need.
We have this "Archimedes' fulcrum." We have an objective standard that is from outside of our world, thus it is not susceptible to deviation from the winds of time. It is from outside of time, beyond time's boundaries; it is timeless. It is a fulcrum that alone can bring balance to the levers of our attempts to understand this complex phenomenon called life. It is the Word of God.
A quote that has anchored my boat as it tosses on the sea of life's uncertainties is: "The man who stands above the maze can direct you through all its labyrinth by the readiest path." God is that One who stands above the maze. He, our Creator, is the only one who has "the big picture." F. B. Meyer wrote: "God, who made you for your life, and your life for you, can direct you, and He only." Our path will certainly open up clearly before us when we learn to "lean not to your own understanding" but rather to "in all your ways acknowledge Him" (Proverbs 3:5-6) - when we no longer look down onto our path, or around at others, but simply look upward into the face of Christ. He is trustworthy to be our guide.
And, yes, the eternal Word of God assures us that there is indeed a future for mankind. "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has the human heart conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him" (II Corinthians 2:9). If it is my heart's true desire to please Him, then this promise is my immutable and delightful certainty.
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