So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
We may not know how long we are to live on this earth, but each day we have ought to be a day with intention. When we number our days, we won’t live as if we are swept by a schedule we cannot control. That kind of living will make us passive and lazy, prone to think that everything happening to us is either by chance or God’s will. Certainly, we begin to play the role of the victim in our own lives if this is the case.
When we number our days, we actually set ourselves up for a life of diligence and adequate rest. Because we are appointing intention and purpose for each day, we get to prepare; we get to dream; to plan; to stop, reflect, move. Most of all, we get to partner with God and ask Him for His purpose and His strategies in our lives.
Because God is our Creator, we can best live our days in partnership with the One who knows us best; the One who is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. He is the One who has written about us before we came to be; the very One who fashioned us carefully. As Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”—therefore, shouldn’t we ask Him for the unfolding of our days in accordance to what He’s written about us? Let’s not miss out on His divine appointments!
Living our days with intention should spur us to spend more time with God in prayer. Each day, we should ask God for fresh wisdom, fresh insight into His heart for us and the things we should do. Prayer will give us the opportunity to ask God to involve Himself not just in our routines or new ventures, but even in areas that are difficult for us; areas for example where we need to see justice in our lives. We can also use our time with God to examine ourselves so that we may be pure vessels for His purpose to flow unhindered through us and into this world.
The last two verses of Psalm 90 draw a very, very good conclusion to numbering our days: “Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, And establish the work of our hands for us; Yes, establish the work of our hands” (Psalm 90:16-17). At the end of everything, it is really God working in us and through us. How beautiful it is therefore, that God also wants to show Himself not just to us, but to our children! How beautiful it is, too, that we get to behold God’s beauty as He works in us and through us!
This being said, may the Lord truly establish His work in our lives! Amen and amen.
Janina Marie Rivera is the Editor-in-Chief of One Voice Magazine, a teacher of world literature, and a student of the Bible. She enjoys reflecting on life’s curve balls and plateaus. She resides in the Philippines, the country known for people who smile a lot.
Great insight! Praise the Lord.