No
Guarantees
Teach
us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. -- Psalm 90:12
This is not the life he
had planned. He had retired. His wife was soon to retire. They were going to
travel and spoil their grandchildren and just enjoy themselves. And then she
got sick and died.
Now he’s struggling to
make sense of what’s left. He has to go on. He has to live what’s left of his
life. But it will never look the way it would have looked had she lived.
Another friend is two
months into unexpected widowhood. How could someone seemingly so healthy get
sick and die within days? How does she reorder her life, care for her children,
and look to the future when each day looks so bleak?
It wasn’t supposed to
be this way. They were supposed to watch their children become adults, welcome
grandchildren and retirement. They were supposed to grow old together. She
feels cheated even as she seeks God’s will to go forward.
Should I go on? Another
friend fought a hard battle for two years. Her son died. She will never be
okay. She goes on. She’s got three other children. But how can she ever trust
in tomorrow? How can she rid herself of this deep fear inside? One child died
of cancer. Could she lose another?
We are people who plan.
We fill our days with work and meetings and kids’ activities. We are busy
people. We’ll get around to joy a little later. There will be plenty of time to
rest when we’ve accomplished all that we’ve planned. We’ll have lots of time to
spend with the kids then. We’ll all be glad of the nice home and all the stuff
we’ve filled it with.
Until the day when life
changes forever. If you’re lucky, you’ll get another chance to get it right. If
you’re not, you’ll be left with deep regrets.
Another friend marked
an unfortunate milestone last week. It had been exactly a year since her
husband was involved in head-on collision. He is fine. The other driver, the
one who swerved in front of him, died. She remembers the phone call, the frantic
rush to the accident scene, then thankfulness that he would be okay. And the
sorrow that someone they’d never met had died.
Life isn’t something to
take for granted. We know that. So why do we live as though tomorrow is
promised? It isn’t. Only God knows the number of our days. We should spend
those days focused on what’s truly important.
If you died today what
would your children remember about you? That you worked all the time? That your
house was always spotless? Or would they remember how you played with them,
helped them with homework, held them when they cried?
What would your friends
remember? Would they consider you a hard worker and tough competitor? Or would
they remember your kindness, your compassion, your laughter?
We don’t like to think
of the day we’ll move on to our heavenly home. Oh, we want to go to heaven.
Just not today. Or tomorrow. But that’s not our choice.
It’s always wise to
plan for the future, to have savings and a good job and a welcoming home. But
treat today as the treasure that it is. Be grateful for the time you have with
those you love. Extend grace. Show mercy. Be kind. Today is a gift and tomorrow
may never come. Live accordingly.
