"Life Time"

Your story had beginning,

Deep in the heart of God,

You were living in His mind,

Before this earth you trod.

And then your folks conceived you,

Your earthly life began,

And just nine months later,

According to God’s plan,

You were born in this life,

You took your first breath,

The Good Lord’s air filled your lungs,

And will until your death.

Childhood and the young years,

Back when life was new,

For so long you wondered,

What all you would do.

And then you had a new birth,

Jesus came to save,

You received forgiveness,

And your life you gave.

School and work and marriage,

God gave you children, too,

But life was not all that you thought,

The hurts and regrets grew.

And there were even sometimes,

You wanted it to end,

But something always stopped you,

And let me tell you, friend,

No matter what has happened,

Or gone so far astray,

No matter if you’re longing,

For your dying day.

God from start to finish,

Had His hand on you,

It’s not over till He says so,

There’s more for you to do.

And I have been there with you,

Just thought I’d ride away,

Fade on out beyond the grid,

And there good-bye I’d say.

But the Good Lord interrupted,

All I had in mind,

For me still love and laughter,

And God’s new mission find.

May be close to over,

The Good Lord only knows,

And I am more deliberate,

And in my face it shows.

But I have grown determined,

And I’m hoping you will, too,

About the time that’s left for us,

And with it what we’ll do.

A day is like a thousand years,

A thousand years a day,

Depending on the hand of God,

And what we do and say.

Fill that day with thousands,

For thousands fill the day,

For every new tomorrow,

And heaven, come what may.

For your life’s own story,

Will end where it began,

Deep within the heart of God,

No matter how you ran.

So finish well, my brother,

And sister, you’ll do fine,

‘Cause Jesus is the author,

Helps us finish our lifetime.

“You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book…” (Ps. 130:16, NLT)

Most of us are enslaved to the immediate. What we do is largely determined by the most imminent demand on our attention and energy. It’s very challenging for us to step back and examine our lives because of busy-ness and suffering from spiritual attention deficit disorder. The Psalmist lays out the big view for us. It’s pre-birth to death, with every day in between. And God is involved every step of the way. No one can say how the sovereign plan of God interacts with the freedom of choice God gives us. But however these two realities play, there is no question that God is ultimately in control and it’s our job to acknowledge and follow Him. When we live in cooperation with the One who knows us best and loves us the most, life changes for the better. It becomes much more a lifestyle than a death-style.

Lord, help us receive life as Your gift and give it back as our gift to You, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Steve Devenyns, stevedevenyns.com. Used by permission. Thanks, and God bless you, Steve.