Teach Us to Number Our Days....

I love the verse that is the core of this blog in Psalms 29:10, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

That verse has been mulled over in my mind these past few weeks. "Teach us" must mean that this concept doesn't come naturally with in us. It certainly hasn't come naturally from my personal experience. When my little ones were very young I definitely went through seasons and phases that I would wish the days away. Anyone who currently is dealing with potty- training, teething, and 3am feedings may chime in with a healthy "Amen." right about now. There has been seasons of "hard" recently that I have been VERY guilty in wishing a phase or difficult season away, but I may add that I am getting better at all of this.
I am progressing at the counting my days part of this verse too or at least making my days count; in the hard times, in the "stuck" times, in the mundane, in the days of this spring that seems to forget that winter is indeed over. (Minnesota, where is your reset button?) We've all been reminded lately in watching the news that our days are indeed numbered. In light of the massive tornadoes in Oklahoma, the tragedy at Sandy Hook, in hearing of friends with the diagnosis of cancer, to the simple thing of getting our friend's graduation open house invitation for their child which I could have sworn was still in the 7th grade. I'm reminded that our days here on this earth are indeed numbered.
For me it is finding the divine among the ordinary. It is using what is in my hands TODAY, instead of waiting for the hope of more abundance in my tomorrow. Seizing the moment to do good, and taking time to let God interrupt my sometimes frenetic pace. For some of us it is taking a meal to a friend, forgiving a grievance, listening to EVERY story your junior higher relates at the end of a school day, praying for a spouse, rocking that sweet baby just a little while longer, taking time to connect with that person behind the cash register, helping mow the neighbors lawn, believing the best about someone and not listening to the worst, saying yes to a mission trip, or just spending time in simple quiet to allow the truth of God's word wash over the hard and thirsty parts of our souls.

The last part of this verse is profound. It says, "that we may gain a heart of wisdom." Interesting that in counting our days, we gain wisdom. As I've been pondering more and more about that, I was thinking about the contrasting opposite of that verse. In blending our days into a puddle of the ordinary; the "if only I had...., the I'm bored's, the someday when's, the I'm stuck, the let's just get through this" phases-scripture implies that we are binding our hearts up in foolishness. I think the Psalmist wants to remind us that when we don't grasp our day to day ordinary moments and combine them with God's purpose, then waste and foolishness are not too far away. I'm often drawn back to the story in the bible with the Feeding of the 5000, when the little boy stopped, used the very little that was in his hand at that moment, and allowed God to use him to help usher in the miraculous amongst a very ordinary day.

I'm not sure about you, but I could use more wisdom in the world I live in. More than before I am learning to whisper words of prayer through out my day. To pause and to allow God the interruption rights he is entitled to. To allow His divine plans to surround my temporal world.

It makes for a life more exciting to live, inspiring to be around, and if a little more wisdom leaks over into my life in the process, I'll take it. I need it.
Now off to hear some compelling story of what happened at the junior high lunch table this week.
Stay tuned.