It’s summer time!  Time for playing outside, water activities, and…bubbles!  Probably all of us blew and chased bubbles as kids (and maybe as adults, too).  They are fun, whimsical, and beautiful floating in the summer breeze.  You can’t help but smile as you watch them take flight.  Start blowing bubbles around small children and they will likely start the chase to catch the delicate treats.  What fun!

Littler children, though, may get teary eyed with their first encounters with the tiny spheres.  They toddle, stumble, and chase only to find that their reward for success disappears at their touch.  How disappointing!  How frustrating!  I put forth all of this effort to chase the pretty shiny object only to have it disintegrate right before my eyes!

Do you know that feeling?  Perhaps it wasn’t bubbles you were chasing but rather something that you thought would bring you joy or pleasure.  Maybe the bubble was a relationship, maybe a rung on the career ladder, maybe a recreational pursuit, or… you fill in the blank. 

So you chased.  Only to be disappointed by the “catch.”  What you viewed as the next big prize turned out to be a disappointment.  Instead of fulfillment, you had empty hands and an empty heart. The pursuit wasn’t what you thought.  You have nothing of any value to show for it.

And it hurts.

What then?  Do we turn and pursue the next bubble, hoping that one will be more stable?  Or do we give up pursuing anything, just to go back and sit on the curb and watch the world go by?

While I’m not real sure if bubble blowing was an activity during the prophet Samuel's time, I am sure that chasing things that won't last has plagued the human race since the beginning.   Consider this simple warning Samuel spoke:

So we have before us many things that can consume our time and energy, many things to chase.  Some will leave us empty and disappointed while One will never leave us.  He is our enduring strength, offering a steadfast love and salvation to those that will seek Him.

What are you chasing?

May the Giver of all good and permanent gifts draw us ever closer to Him daily.

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Thanks for reading.

Rachel Welborn

Come and See Photography