It’s raining again.
Literal rain. For days.
With only little glimpses of sunshine here and there like the sun has become a temptress, teasing with a false promise of a sunny dry day.
The upside- one can’t fully appreciate the splendor of the sun when there is no comparison, hence the clouds and rain.
Today, I decided to embrace the rain and chose to sit outside on the covered patio and just drink it all in…. for the first time in my life I witnessed the "performance" of the rain. The rain began ever so delicately and I noticed it first by the blades of grass; the grass almost appeared to come alive in an exotic dance as each droplet splashed onto individual blades, bending them in varying degrees. As I focused on each bending, the rain became heavier and the music began- a delightful tinkling sound as each raindrop hit and echoed off the multi-colored tin roofs of the neighborhood.
As I watched this charming performance, I thought to myself- "Is it even possible to count the raindrops? Measure the depth of the accumulation, sure– but, count each drop.
I quickly concluded that it is impossible, at least for us mere humans!
Awestruck, I let it sink into my soul that God knows the number of every single raindrop that falls before my eyes! He alone can count the rain!
Do you know what else God can count? The number of our days.
I know we all want to think we will live forever, but deep in our hearts, we know the truth. One day we all will die. We are finite and the sooner we accept that fact, the better life becomes.
We can learn a great deal about how we should view life by looking at the only Psalm written by Moses. The oldest of the Psalms – Psalm 90 is entitled- "From Everlasting to Everlasting" and it highlights the eternal nature of God, the frailty of humanity, and the brevity of our existence. I find Psalm 90: 1-12 particularly interesting:
Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn people back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.
7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
You can read the full version of Psalm 90- here.
Sobering picture- Dust that might reach 70 to 80 years. Years that will go by at warp speed and end with death.
Ok, we can all agree there are exceptions to almost any rule-- some won’t reach 70 and others may be blessed to reach triple-digits. Nevertheless, it won't do us any good to deny, ignore, or sugar-coat it that our days are indeed numbered.
So, what can we do with this limited time God has given us?
Psalm 12 tells us- We should be asking God to “teach us to number our days, so we can have a heart of wisdom!”
Unlike the raindrops, God can teach us to "count" the number of our days. Maybe we should be literally counting our days, as a visual reminder that we should be viewing every single one of them as a glorious blessing, but more importantly, we should be maximizing every one we are given with things that matter most in life. Not wasting a single day on things that simply don't matter. We waste precious time on things like anxiety, worry, fear, materialism, and vanity. How about the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Pride?) Got any of these taking up valuable time in your limited days?
God is calling us to pay attention and to use every moment to bring Him honor and glory.
Will you wake up one day and realize you never paid attention to the rain and you never counted your days as precious?
We might not need to be able to count raindrops, but learning the importance of numbering our days, seeing them as precious, and understanding that a life well-spent focuses on the things that matter- God and eternity. These are the things that are important.
So, the next time you experience a rain shower may it remind you to stop and ask God to teach you to number your days so that you may live a life of wisdom and significance!
Don’t waste a single day- instead- - Carpe Diem.
“Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” ~ Ephesians 5:15-16