Right On Time

One thing which I've been thinking about recently is the way that God saves our lives. It first came to mind a little while ago when I choked on something and afterward I felt thankful that God had allowed me to cough it up rather than something worse happening. I learned that last week an asteroid passed by Earth at the same distance which the moon is from us. In astronomical terms, this is extremely close -- and they didn't even detect it until it was right over us. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that we should be fearing Armageddon at every moment, but I'm only making the point that God is constantly saving our lives, and He is sovereign over everything. He is the one who directs the paths of every asteroid, every planet, every star, and keeps every molecule in place in order to sustain us. Thanks to God alone, at this very moment your heart is beating and you have the sight to read this sentence.

In Psalm 139, David says of the Lord, "You have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord." Where could we ever go from the presence of God? "If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast." I hope I haven't given the impression that we should fear death; indeed, we need not fear the next day, as God knew your life from A to Z before you were born -- nothing will ever take Him by surprise. "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

What does all this mean? It means that God is sovereign, but it also means that our lives are precious in His sight! After all, why else would God bother to write up our entire life before we were born, and why else would He care to keep a count of the hairs on our heads, unless He loves us beyond our understanding? Even David, as close as he was to God, was mind-boggled. "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." If it's truly God's eternal plan for you to be alive in 2002, then certainly He has a purpose for you. Thank the Lord for your life; praise Him for who He is; invite Him into the dusty closets of your life and ask Him to clean them out so that you can live the purpose which He has for you. Enjoy the life you've been given, but enjoy it with the Lord and take time to rest, be still, and know that He is God. I am convinced that only in the Lord will we find true enjoyment and fulfillment in life. I know I'm very far from the life I should be living, but at least it gives me peace knowing that God is always in control.

--Written by Steven Wakeman (1/13/02)