The number of our days

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13-16

So I've been thinking lately how worked up I got when the doctors said that Noah was going to die. I thought I believed that God's word was true and that only He could number our days. Unfortunately, I believed it the way I wanted to believe it...I thought that only a few months was no life at all and that since our family has more longevity than we know what to do with, that Noah would live against all odds well into his 90's. Obviously, I didn't believe God's word. I interpreted it for my own use...let me tell you, a lot of churches do. But that's another post...

You see, if I really believe God is the Author of all truth, that there isn't a lying bone in His body, then I must believe that regardless of the standard age expectancy of man, 7 months and 2 days were the "days ordained for me (Noah) were written in your book before one of them came to be."

So, I think about how many people have heard the words, "You have 3 months to live" or "You have stage 1, 2, 3, 4 and have such and such amount of time" or "Your baby has this condition and will not live outside the womb" or "Unless you get a transplanted body part, you won't make it to your next birthday ", etc., etc. I could go on and on. I realize that the physicians are not trying to blow sunshine or give false hope, but my heart here is to encourage anyone reading that humans are not God and have not ordained any one persons number of days. What I am saying, though, is that God will sometimes use humans to 'enlighten' us to a general time frame. What we do with that information is really up to us...

I'm having a hard time getting across what has been on my heart, but flow with me here...I have met, or known of, many people who have been told that their life was going to end in such and such amount of time. For the most part, they find a renewed sense of hope, even in their grief, and reason for living than they had been experiencing doing the daily grind up until that point. All of a sudden, the life they thought was so great and valuable actually has value...it's actually a treasured life to live instead of one to endure. Things that were important take on new meaning. Life changes. Perspective is altered. Because of those, I have been inspired. For others, however, despair sets in. The reality of death is paralyzing. "No, I don't want to die!" "I don't want so and so to die!" The one absolute in life, death, is knocking at one's door and most would try to do anything to keep it at bay. Except He ordains our days...

I, for one, have lived too many days without eternal perspective. Jesus said He was coming back soon. Granted, that was over 2000 years ago so some might not be in the habit of waiting for His glorious return. Life has gone on and people are busy...But, if God were to say that on such and such a day He was returning in all His glory, how might you live?

The reality is, all our days are ordained. God has said He is returning on such and such a day but we have not yet been informed of it. As a result, we get comfortable. I get comfortable. "Oh, surely that won't happen in my lifetime" or "I don't know when Jesus is coming back, so I have time to do such and such..." Imagine what your life would look like if you only had X amount of days...Imagine. God has blessed us each with gifts and talents, resources and passions. We do only have X amount of days.

Imagine what our lives could look like if we lived like they weren't our lives at all...