“Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Psalm 139:16 ESV
What a wonderful truth! God, our Creator, determined the number of days long before our physical birth. In His omniscient wisdom, the One who exists outside of time lovingly sets the boundaries of each soul’s earthly journey.
Everything in the human realm is tied to a timeline of one sort or another. In elementary school, my children completed projects that included a timeline illustrating the events’ sequence in their lives to that point. It was a fun exercise as we reminisced and celebrated each accomplishment. The timeline puts everything in a neat, clean, linear perspective.
Life rarely happens in such a neat package. It is relatively easy to artfully record a series of events as we look back on them. We know what happened. So we plot the sequence on the nice, tidy, linear graph. We can even do a pretty good job of making projections as we forecast the line forward -if we have a good idea of what to expect. Boom! That’s it. Determining what we should expect is where the planning gets difficult. Life is full of unpredictable twists and turns; our futures are packed with “unknowns.”
Today, a glance down my personal lifeline reminds me that it has been five years since a sweet and precious friend met her Savior face-to-face. In the last few weeks, several folks who are dear to me received an unwelcome cancer diagnosis. Sunday, another treasured friend left this earthly realm to enjoy eternity with Jesus. News of such loss brings an immediate heaviness of heart. Thankfully, Christians are blessed with the confidence that our Lord God holds us, our futures, and every crazy turn of our less-than-linear timeline in His strong and righteous right hand. Regardless of the trouble, and this world is full of them, Christians do not need to be disheartened.
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 ESV
What is unknown to us is fully known to our loving God. He has the vantage point of seeing everything, from every perspective, at once. He isn’t just looking backward or forward. He sees all. He knows what is ultimately best and consoles us with the knowledge that He is preparing a perfect place for us: heaven. There will be no goodbyes there, no tragedies, no pain, and no troubles.
I encourage you to rely on Elohim, our all-powerful, Sovereign God, fully. Completely trust Him as He has tenderly numbered each day for me, you, and all those we love. May you experience the sweet peace and complete joy only He can provide.
Charlene Miller
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#charlenemillerblogs