After a traumatic experience, the phrase "teach us to number our days" kept echoing in my mind.
I'd been reminded that time is short and we never know when our heavenly Father will call us into eternity.
But numbering my days only seemed to introduce fear and anxiety into my life. I knew that wasn't what God wanted for me.
Because I've been made right with God through faith in Jesus, I don't need to fear death. He paid for my sins so that my eternity is secure, and when I get to death's door, He'll walk me through and welcome me home.
But if not to increase my fear, why is it so important to number our days?
Finally, I looked up the verse.
So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12, ESV
A heart of wisdom? That sounds like what God wants for us.
Friends, time is short. If you're reading this blog, I imagine you're a writer who believes you've been called to use your writing to the glory of God.
This is no small calling.
This is no quick calling, either.
You can pursue it for a lifetime and still have more you wish to accomplish.
There are parts of this writing life we cannot rush.
Writing. Revision. Submissions. New manuscripts. Building platforms. Finding a writing community. Publishing.
Each and every step in the process takes weeks or months or, often, years.
Knowing this, it's easy to stop numbering our writing days.
Working on a manuscript doesn't seem urgent when it won't be finished for months anyway.
It's easy to fail to follow up on a submission after the time specified on an agent or publisher's website, even though they invited those who have submitted to do so.
Starting a website or an email list seems like a chore better suited to next month.
God's nudge to start submitting our work to traditional publishers or move toward indie publishing, is often just that—a nudge, which we explain away.
Of course, other areas of our lives deserve our attention, too. We must take care of our families and homes. We must have an income to live on. We cannot devote every one of our numbered days to this calling.
Maybe writing does need to take a backseat to another calling right now.
And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17, NET
But let's not use excuses when God does call us to complete a task that will move us forward in our writing.
Though the writing road is long, each step forward makes a difference. If we spend even a few minutes working on a writing project today, we'll be in a better position tomorrow.
Don't let that scare you, but do let it inspire you to use the time and the tools you have to follow God's call. Right now. Today.
In whatever way He's moving you, follow.
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The love of a lifetime, a quest for justice, and redemption that can only be found by faith.
Jake thought he was meant to marry Brooklyn, but now she's pregnant, and he had nothing to do with it.
Brooklyn can’t bring herself to name the father as she wrestles with questions about what her pregnancy means and how it will affect her relationship with Jake.
If Harold Keen, the man who owns the bookstore across from Jake's coffee shop, has anything to do with it, the baby will ruin them both.
Can Jake and Brooklyn overcome the obstacles thrown in their path, and finally find the truth in God's love and in each other?
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