Why you should number your days

Grandma Suzy's Funeral

Grandma Suzy was the first close relative to me who died. We loved grandma Suzy. She was so sweet and pleasant. She was ancient from the first time I saw her. Her false teeth creeped me out a little, but that didn't matter. I loved her.

I remember my grandma Suzy's funeral very well. I was twelve years old and ignorant of so many life issues. Sitting through the funeral I began to think about Suzy's life. For the first time I realized that Grandma Suzy was not always old. There was a time when she was a little girl. There was a time when she learned to brush her own teeth and comb her own hair. There as a time when Grandma Suzy learned to drive a car. She went to high school. She dated. Grandma Suzy was not Grandma Suzy most of her life. She was just Suzy. She was a person with a life and friends and dreams just like me.

Flooded with Perspective

These thoughts prompted me to think about my childhood and my age. I was older this year than the last. I would be older again the following year. One day, my grandchildren will attend my funeral and will wonder about my life, just like I wondered about Grandma Suzy's. 

What will they know of me? What will they remember? What things in this world will have made impact on those around me? These and many other questions flooded my mind. It was in this moment that I 'numbered my days' for the first time. I realized I was mortal. 

The grave welcomes each one of us at some point. We leave behind memories and relationships. We take nothing with us.

The Investment that Lasts

How should this inform our lives? Simple. We should spend our time doing those things that matter eternally! Time is short. Wealth doesn't last! Power is temporary! Eternity continues on.

The only things that last are the purposes of God. This life is short, but the next is forever. If you know him you will continue on in his presence for eternity. If not, you will get what you desire and be left outside his presence for eternity. 

So what about you? Do you see life through eternal lenses? Do you run all your commitments through an eternal filter? Or do you simply drift through life without realizing how temporary your years on this earth truly are?

May you see your life through eternal lenses. May you 'number your days' and invest your time in what lasts. And my you find everlasting joy in God's presence.

Psalm 90:12-17 12  So teach us to number our days 

that we may get a heart of wisdom. 

 13  Return, O Lord! How long? 

Have pity on your servants! 

 14  Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, 

that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 

 15  Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, 

and for as many years as we have seen evil. 

 16  Let your work be shown to your servants, 

and your glorious power to their children. 

 17  Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, 

and establish the work of our hands upon us; 

yes, establish the work of our hands! 

How I Win

How do I fight? How do I win? Do I arm myself to the teeth? Do I take guard during the night? Do I attack when the enemy is resting? Do I recruit the strong?

No. I put my trust in God. He is my hope in times of trouble. He is my shield in the battle. The Lord knows my path and my ways. He has my feet established and will not let me fall. Though I may see destruction he will raise me up. Though I face pain and anguish he will restore me. He is my God and my king. He rescues me in times of trouble.

How can I hear from God? How can I know him? Do I look for him on a journey? Do I search for him in the woods? 

No. I must be still. I must be quiet. My soul must learn to listen to his voice. He speaks and guides. I must listen. Do I long to experience his presence? I must be still. I must bow. Silence and submission to the Lord is the way to hear his voice clearly.

Lord, I know you are my only way. You are my only rock. You are my only protector. I can build a wall, build a fortress and yet the enemy could bust it down. But they can never defeat you. No one can overtake you. You are all I need and the only one I can depend on. You are holy. Hallelujah to the King of Kings.

Rip out the hooks that the world has in me. Rip them out and heal my wounds. Forgive my sin, please Lord. Restore me to total devotion. May I never hold on to anything in this world. May I let everything go joyfully. May I love you with my whole heart. May I be the husband, father, friend, and pastor that those around me need. Amen.

Whose pleasure do you live for?

Temporary Vision 

A.W. Tower once said, 'The weakness of so many modern Christians is that they feel too much at home in the world.'

Why would he say that? Why does it matter? 

Christian have identities that are wrapped up in Jesus Christ. They do not belong to themselves, to live for temporary pleasures. They belong to God, as his children. They are called to know him intimately and follow him closely. 

The Lord has opened their eyes to see his kingdom at work in this world. The material world, and all that is in it, functions from a purely temporal perspective. People fight for what they want. They steal, lie, and cheat to get their short term appetites satisfied. Politicians scratch and claw to move their agendas forward in an attempt to create a society that reflects their desires.

Eternal Persepective

But what about the Christian? How should the we, as God's children, interact with the world knowing that it is not our home? The following are a few reflections concerning this issue:

First, our attitudes should reflect our eternal home. When each of us came to faith in Jesus Christ our citizenship was transferred from this world to a heavenly one. We live here for a short time, seventy-five years or so, but we do not share the same values or vision for life that the world holds. Naturally, we should always remember in the front of our minds that our eternal home is filled with joy in God's presence. 

Second, our mission should build eternal value. It is easy to get trapped by temptation to focus our time and efforts on temporal things. Politics, community development, and business threaten to steal our attention away from the message of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. To be sure, we should follow through our beliefs with social action, however we should never focus our lives on building temporary institutions.

Third, our desire should be to please God, not man. At the judgement there will be one judge. There is one creator and savior. His judgement and his alone matters. If we follow the Lord wholeheartedly we will be in the minority by far. Some people will admire us, yet others will despise us. The person wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord will find joy in pleasing him even during times of severe persecution.

The Turn

So the question remains: What is the purpose of your life? Is it to please man or to please God? 

My prayer is that your one and only devotion would be to please God with your life. May you thirst for his presence in your life. And may you be satisfied in him at all times.

May you design your life around fulfilling God's mission in this world. And may this be the greatest priority in your life. Amen.

Galatians 1:9-10 If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 10 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. 

How do you approach God when angry?

Breaking Point

Everyone has a breaking point. There is only so much frustration and anger one person can endure without losing patience. 

When I was a freshman in college I reached that breaking point. At the time I shared a two bedroom apartment with three other guys on my baseball team. These were good guys, but like all 18 year old college baseball players they had their attitude issues. Then again, so did I. 

After a period of time, though, with all of the trash talk and no privacy to escape the constant banter, I just had enough. I did't even know what I was feeling at the time. I could not put it into words. It was a deep sense of hurt and pain that I could not escape. So I took off on a walk down the road. 

Escape

I walked probably four or five miles. I cried while I walked. I yelled and screamed as I walked. I cried out to God for help while I walked. My frustration at my roommates and my living situation turned into an anger toward God. I wanted to him to relieve the anguish right then. Fortunately for me, I was walking in a small town where there were no people in earshot otherwise they would have thought I was crazy. 

When I reached as far as I wanted to go I walked up to a gas station and called my mom from a pay phone (yes, there were pay phones in 1998). We just talked for a few minutes about nothing in particular. It was nice to hear her voice and be reminded of the normalcy I still had in life. My mother still loved me and cared deeply for me. She was always there for me. 

Reflection

After expressing my frustrations and having some time to think through my feelings I began to calm down. Life was not really as bad as it felt while I was in the heat of an argument. God was still God and the world was still in one piece. 

If someone heard my words as I walked that night they would have thought I was a terribly angry and disgruntled person. I expressed things to God that revealed my very limited perspective on life. Many times I sounded even disrespectful toward God and unappreciative of what he had done for me.

Job's Outcry

When I read Job's words I see the same attitude toward God that I had. Certainly, Job had a much worse situation in life than I had. His friends accused him of wickedness after he lost all of his wealth, health, and children. My friends were simply being obnoxious 18 year old boys. 

Nonetheless, Job approached God with an attitude that revealed his lack of eternal perspective. He said, 'Oh, that I had one to hear me! (Here is my signature! Let the Almighty answer me!)'. He expected God to answer him on his terms.

Surely, if anyone had reason to cry out to God it was Job. Fortunately, God is bigger than Job realized. God was not ignoring Job. God was not ignoring me.

Your Frustrations

So what about you? What frustration have you experienced? What anger have you endured. 

How have you responded to God in the midst of your turmoil? Have you accused him? Have you called him out?

What will it take for us to see God for who he is? What will it take for us to respond to him with eternal perspective?