Day By Day

What a difference a day makes. Two years ago I made all my plans for Christmas. I planned what I would buy for each person on my list, what decorations I would put out, and what I would cook for Christmas dinner. Then I fell and broke my arm. Someone else did the decorating, shopping, wrapping, and cooking. That year I didn’t mail any Christmas cards. I made my plans, but my preparations for the season did not unfold the way I anticipated. In a day, a moment actually, everything changed.

The Bible counsels us to hold our plans loosely. We can make our plans, but the Lord’s purposes will prevail (Proverbs 19:21). We shouldn’t brag about tomorrow, because we don’t know what a day may bring (Proverbs 27:1).

One of the first lessons in the Bible is the measurement of time in days. God spoke. He created light and separated it from the darkness. He called the light “Day.” There was evening and morning. One day.

God continued with His creation–evening and morning, the second day, and the third, through seven days. He worked day by day, until He was satisfied His creation was, “Very good.”

People disagree concerning the meaning of a “day,” in the seven days of creation. Some prefer to think of each day as an era of time. God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. The length of time is irrelevant to the all powerful God who exists outside of time. Regardless of the interpretation one settles on, this is the term God chose to designate the time of creation. His mention of evening and morning making up a day seems to point to what we know as a 24 hour period.

A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day (2 Peter 3:8). He is beyond time and not limited by it. He doesn’t measure time the way we do. But clearly He directs us to measure our time on earth in days.

In the wilderness, God provided manna daily. The Israelites were to gather daily portions. If they took too much, and tried to keep it, it spoiled.

In Psalm 90, Moses prayed for God to teach us to number our days–to understand the brevity of life–so we would gain wisdom for the days we have.

In Matthew 6 Jesus counsels us not to worry about tomorrow because today’s trouble is enough for today. Jesus instructs us in what we know as the Lord’s prayer to honor God, seek His will, and ask Him for our daily bread.

We don’t know the length of our lives. We only have today. Life is all about learning to trust God. We are to trust His word, to seek Him, to seek His will, and trust Him for our provision–day by day. It is a lesson and a pattern repeated throughout the Bible.

We don’t know how many days are allotted to us. What will we do with the days we have?

This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

 

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Blessings,
Phyllis

Copyright 2023 Phyllis L. Farringer

Image by José Augusto Camargo from Pixabay