Teach us to number our days

By Gail Marie Harris

I’m sure you are all aware of COVID-19 and all of the information circulating the internet. The world seems to be in panic mode. Store shelves are empty of the basics and essentials. Limit 2 on anything you can think of.

So how do we handle the unknown of it all?

The other morning, during my time of prayer, I told God I didn’t know what to believe right now. With the bombardment of information, from reliable and unreliable sources, who knows what is truth and what is not right now?

I’ve decided to quarantine myself from social media for a while. It’s actually stressing me out seeing everyone's two cents on it.

As I made my confession to God this morning, I asked Him to give me wisdom. Do I need to panic? Do I need to stock up? What do I need to do to prepare? Do I even need to worry about it? I don’t know that I have ever heard the audible voice of God, but this morning it was like the Holy Spirit whispered this verse me:

“Teach us to number our days carefully, so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.”

Psalm 90:12

I went and read the whole of Psalm 90. It’s worth taking the time to read, and I encourage you to do the same. Read it slowly. For some it may be a familiar passage, but take a minute to really let this sink in.

In my Bible the heading of this chapter says, "Eternal God and Mortal Man." When I read this Psalm, I was reminded of the frailty of humanity. Our days our numbered, we will all come to an end. We need to live in light of eternity! God has been and will be our refuge. From eternity to eternity, He is God. None of this is taking Him by surprise. He is not in a panic. I don’t know why He is allowing it, but maybe, it is for us to get our focus back on Him.

The middle of this chapter reminds me that my sin is ever before God. Nothing is done in secret, He sees it all. It is after this awareness, that in the light of His presence my sin is revealed, we are told how short our lives are. Living with eternity in mind means we put aside our sin, our desires, our ways, and seek to please the Lord. Praise God for the forgiveness of sins through His Son, Jesus Christ! I don’t have to live in fear of God’s wrath because I have been redeemed.

But what will I do with my redemption? Will I rob grace and continue to live my own way and say God will have to forgive me? Or will I clothe myself in His righteousness and walk in obedience to His will and ways? Will I keep the love of Jesus to myself or be bold and share it with those around me, especially in such times as these.

I dare say, people are looking for hope, and we have the greatest hope to offer! Share more than your extra toilet paper. Give them Jesus.

May we number our days carefully today. We aren’t promised tomorrow. May we value what is most important, today! May we have hearts that are turned towards wisdom. May eternity be on our hearts and our minds not only today, but until the day the Lord calls us home. May we share the hope of Jesus Christ and lead people to Him.

Gail Harris is the director of women’s ministry at Lighthouse Baptist Church in Macon where her husband, Greg, is worship pastor. She’s homeschooling mom of five. She blogs at GailMarieHarris.com.