S165P6 – In his hands: our days
Psa. 139:13-16
For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.
The old woman was featured in a segment at the end of the news broadcast because she had reached a milestone birthday. At the ripe old age of 100 she was exercising regularly and still socially active in her community. They gave a short profile of her life and then asked her the question everyone wanted answered. The reporter asked her to share her secret to longevity. She mentioned that she never took a drink, never smoked and always made sure to be joyful. While this is good advice to follow in life, there is one aspect of longevity that was ignored. It is the fact that, no matter how careful and healthy we are in this life, the number of our days is not necessarily within our control.
I have known very young and healthy people who have died tragically before we ever expected them to leave us. I also have known those who live rather unhealthy lifestyles, some of whom do not care much at all about this life, and their days have been long. This is not to say that we should stop taking care of ourselves and living our lives well, but it is important to understand that God is the one who is in control of our time here. We can look at this as a calendar of sorts. The days are written already; they are set. God knows when we will take our first breath and when we will release our last. Birth and death might come as a surprise to us, but none of this surprises him.
When the scriptures describe our days as being written in a book, I think of a story. My life is a drama with comedic undertones written and recorded. It has a beginning and an end in this world. It has twists and turns. It is a certain number of pages like any other story. For the believer, the greatest thing about the story of life is that the ending will be good. We are not tragic figures, but we are heroes. We are victors in this saga of war and of peace. Our stories might be varied in length and in substance, but our endings are the same because He had made them so. Father, help us to appreciate the days You have given us in this life, whether long or short, and the good ending You have written.