Teach Us to Number Our Days| Using Our Time Wisely

A couple weeks ago, a dear sister from my church reached out to me and asked me if I knew of someone who could disciple her or if I happened to have time to walk alongside of her. Since I recognized the rarity of such a request, I wholeheartedly embraced the opportunity to walk with my sister as we grew closer to Christ together through His Word. We decided to focus on a study of the attributes of God. Each week will be a new attribute. Week one was on the aseity of God, which simply means the self-existence and eternality of God. God had no beginning, and He has no end; He is eternal and all source of life comes from Him. 

Conversely, we as humans know nothing of life without time from the moment we are born. Eternity is so incredibly foreign to us as we experience the constraints and consequences of time here on earth. Although God exists outside of time, He is the creator and cause of it and has a purpose for it. The Lord won’t keep eternity from us forever but longs for us to have it too in Christ. One day we will get to taste unending days that ever-increase with beauty and joy with Him, but until then, we must see time as a gift from God and learn how to use it wisely all for His glory. 

I am reminded of a verse in Psalm 90, which is a prayer written by Moses. Moses asks the Lord:

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom”

(Psalm 90:12, ESV)

Understanding that God is sovereign over all things, including your life, means that you realize that you cannot exceed your lifespan by a single moment. Wisdom is knowing that time here on earth is fleeting, and we do not know what tomorrow brings, so we should not take a single breath for granted. Wise Christ followers are mindful that wasting time limits our fruitfulness and effectiveness for God’s Kingdom. Distracted disciples don’t further the Kingdom of God, so we must learn how to prioritize our time rightly for God’s glory. The Lord has given us work to do and that is to see the gospel spread to the nations and raise up more disciples. Ultimately, numbering our days should be a thrill and a joy. We should wake up everyday longing to not only spend time with the Lord, but to move forward with His mission to give Him glory through all that we say and do.

What has become a distraction for you recently that may be getting in your way of being productive for Christ? Are you giving more of your time to worldly, temporal pursuits? Do you find yourself making excuses and giving into laziness when it comes to prioritizing your time to put God first in your life? Often where we spend most of our time is a big indicator of what/who has your heart and devotion. Let us ask the Lord to help us be cognizant of how we are spending our time and how we can wisely prioritize the gift of time. One day we will be free from the bounds of time where we will get to spend forever with the Lord, but until that day, let us give God our best with the time we have here on this earth. 

Let’s pray:

Father God,

Help me to see time, not as a thief, but as a gift from You. Although You exist outside of time, You have caused time to exist and have a purpose for me to fulfill while I am here on this earth. I ask that You would help me overcome the temptation to waste my time or give into laziness. Like Moses prayed, teach me to number my days that I may use them wisely and for Your glory. I want to make every moment full of God-honoring choices that point those around me to You that they may come into a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Help me to untangle from worldly pursuits that are not fruitful and give my all to your Kingdom work and purposes. My life is in Your hands, and I am grateful for every breath that comes from You as it is another opportunity to praise You. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

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Beauty in Its Time

I have lived in the Midwest of the United States my entire life. We experience all four seasons, but it usually goes something like this: 5-6 months of Winter, 2-3 weeks of Spring, 4-5 months of Summer, and 2-4 weeks of Fall. By the time the extreme months of Winter and Summer are over, we get to enjoy the mild temperatures for less than a month most years. 

I have to admit, Winter is my least favorite season and out of all the seasons, and in the Midwest, it is the longest. I wait for Spring to come with great expectation, but come January, I am usually growing extremely impatient and ready to pack my bags and move our family to somewhere much warmer!

But, just like the year before, the temperature begins to slowly climb, buds begin to form on the trees, and the grass and plants begin to come back to life and show those vibrant green colors. Soon enough, fresh leaves are fully covering what were barren branches and flowers are in full bloom, welcoming us into Spring once again. I never have to worry if the seasons are going to change because they always do; God is a master artist like that and has it all under control. 

Just like seasons are set to a specific time that God ordains, so are events in our life, and on an even bigger scale, our journey with Him as it unfolds. Only He knows how to take a rebellious heart of stone and transform it into a heart of flesh that praises His Holy name. This profound reality of God forming a life into one who learns how to deny self and worship the Lord is not an overnight event. No, just like seasons change in their own time, the change of a life for the glory of Christ is a process. In God’s perfecting timing, we will begin to see the transformation. 

Ecclesiastes is a book in the Bible written by one of the wisest men to live, King Solomon. In this book, Solomon discusses the ebb and flow of life: time, foolishness, suffering, and wisdom are some of the topics that are poetically unwrapped throughout this Old Testament book. 

Chapter 3 of Ecclesiastes focuses on the concept of time in the heart of man. Verse 11 explains to us that God is the holder of time and specifically that “He has made everything beautiful in its time” (11a). The verse goes on to say that God “has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 11b, NIV). 

Often times, as humans, we become extremely discouraged when we fail or when we think we should be further along than we are, but God is continually working in our hearts and in our lives, and the process of conforming us to the image of His dear Son rests solely in His hands as we lean not on our own understanding, but trust completely in Him and His ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).

With the help of the Holy Spirit, we learn to walk in obedience. He leads us into all truth as we study the Word and renew our mind to replace old ways of thinking with God’s perfect will. 

Perhaps this process of renewing our mind and seeing transformation in behavior and attitude is slowed down because our eyes become too fixated on cares of this life and the temporal.

Our hearts were made to look to the hope in eternity, but if we are not careful, we can be consumed with worry when things are not changing as quickly as we would like them to or when our circumstances in our life are challenging or uncomfortable.

Soon we are trying to control things that go on in our life and forget to ask the Lord for His help or even acknowledge that He may be using all that may be difficult in our life to work for our good and turn it all into something beautiful. 

Do you feel like you are stuck in a “winter” season in your life and are longing to see blooms of new life?

Take those concerns to the Lord today in prayer. Write down the worries that are weighing you down and surrender them to God.

dOnly He is able to make things beautiful in its time. Don’t lose hope…Springtime is just around the corner!

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