Growing old

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives. (Psalm 90:13, 14)

The brevity of life isn't really felt in our youth - it is felt more as the decades pass, the work winds down, and the days seem to pass faster than we ever thought they could. A day speeds by, soon it is a month gone, then we ring in a whole new year. Is it possible that time really does fly? As youngsters, days just drug on, making us think we'd never get to do all those 'important things' we were dreaming of doing. Then we got a bit older, and our days were filled to overflowing with all manner of work, business, and things that 'just had to be done'. 

As our careers wound down, hobbies became our main focus, and now the things we thought so important to accomplish in our youth somehow don't matter all that much. What matters now? The hugs we shared along the way, the moments we just sat at the shoreline hoping for a slight tug on the line, and the times when we just laughed until our sides hurt. We might not think life is brief, but as we get closer to the end, it seems like there was so much we missed along the way.

One of the greatest prayers we can bring to God's feet is to ask him to teach us the brevity of life. It actually helps us focus on what is important in the here and now, focusing less on the things we imagined to be so important. There is more in a moment than we realize, but we have to stop long enough to appreciate what it is! No time spent with God, contemplating his goodness, experiencing his creation, and listening intently to his voice is ever wasted or 'unimportant'. We have lots of 'important stuff' to get to today, but it can wait! There is more satisfaction in our day when we find our satisfaction in him first and foremost in our day. 

We grow in a natural sense, but God desires for us to grow in a spiritual sense, too. We don't 'get wisdom' because we 'do stuff'. We find wisdom because we stop doing stuff and just spend time with him. We grow as we get still. That seems to be a bit of an oxymoron, doesn't it? The more we settle into his presence, the more we grow. There is a song that comes from deep within our hearts when we allow the moment with him to happen - we find there is purpose in our day that wasn't there without him. Just sayin!