Are Our Days Numbered?

Let’s tackle some tough stuff.  Is the date of our death already determined?

From one angle, I believe, the length of our days is a partnership between us, and God.   In essence (to get technical), we extend our days by doing ‘our part’ -- exercising response-ability.  And God extends our days, by doing ‘His part’ – exercising providence. 

But because God is also Sovereign, the final extent of our days appears to be God’s determination, nevertheless.  So how does the mix of our response-ability, God’s providence -- trumped ultimately by God’s Sovereignty -- pan out?

Translated:  in spite of the apparent ‘give and take’ between our responsibility and God’s providence, is our life-trip already routed?   Saying it another way:  in spite of the necessity of both our action and God’s action, is it really all for naught, because our lives are already predetermined, preordained, preplanned? 

Now we’ve entered the deepest crevices of theological vex, as we enter into a discussion of predestination. A classic discussion of predestination begins with whether our lifespan includes the ultimate time determent:  eternal salvation through Christ. Classic Calvinists, believe God doesn’t elect or choose all as candidates for salvation, but predestines a select number – whereas classic Arminianians– believe God does elect all as candidates for salvation. 

For me, Arminianism has the edge biblically (a debatable point, I know! ) for as Paul writes in Ephesians 1:  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us…with every spiritual blessing in Christ.  For he chose us in him [Christ] before the creation of the world…In love he predestined us to be…his sons through Jesus…” (Ephesians 1:3-5, emphasis added).   My take:  because Jesus is available to all, all can be saved, if they opt for the Savior.

But beyond predestinating us for an eternal timespan through Jesus – what can we conclude regarding the predestinating of our earthly timespan; are our current days numbered, in advance?  Some verses suggest that precision.  For example, when Jesus notes that “…indeed the very hairs of our head are all numbered… (Luke 12:7) there’s an inference that God is not unintentional regarding the overall design of our life.   Job is even more direct:  “A person’s days are determined; you [God] have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.  (Job 14:5).  

Yet other verses are more nuanced, suggesting our response also impacts longevity.  One is familiar:  “Honor your father and our mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you…”  (Exodus 20:12, emphasis added).  And yet another verse: “…If you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life…”  (1 Kings 3:14, emphasis added).

And so what are we to conclude?    I suggest:  rather than stewing whether God numbers our days – we should number our days.  For it is as we “…number our days, that we…gain a heart of wisdom.”  (Psalm 90:12).  The wisdom:  as we number our days, we humble ourselves toward The Author of our days -- giving The Author, full freight to write whatever He wants to write -- whenever He wants to write -- for as long as He wishes to write.  

And so we exchange fret for faith -- heeding the counsel of Jesus:  “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” (Matthew 6:27, ESV, emphasis added). 

As I’ve noted before, I find it excruciating difficult to humble myself and release toward God.   I was helped a bit, however, by a testimony I heard in an adult study class, from an elder at Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, MD.  Dramatically, he conveyed that his heart had been held by human hands, the result of recent heart value surgery.  But then he described the emotional foray he suffered before surgery, as anxiety swelled, and faith fizzled.  A breakthrough didn’t come, he confessed, until he got humble, real humble, collapsing, figuratively, into the arms of Jesus, exclaiming:  “I give up, I surrender.”  

I talk a lot about surrender; and for good reason:  time clutched, is time lost.  And so with the Psalmist we get humble, real humble, giving up:  God -- “My times are in your hands…”  (Psalm 31:15, emphasis added).   

One of my best memories is sitting beside my mother in the ‘Mundey Pew,” the fourth pew from the front, on the left hand side of the Hagerstown (MD) Church of the Brethren.  As I sat there and worshipped, I learned a lot about my mom’s devotional life and what propelled her days.  One discovery was my mother’s favorite hymn:  ‘Breathe On Me, O Breathe of God. 

In researching the hymn, years later, I uncovered that this basic faith hymn was written, surprisingly, by an Oxford intellectual, Edward Hatch, best known for his Brampton Lectures, popularized by the noted German scholar, Adolph Harnack.  But, I’m guessing, Hatch knew, great knowledge about God was not highest octane for fueling life – but rather -- a great infilling of God’s Spirit, the same spirit that God breathed into the nostrils of humankind in Genesis 2:7 – the same spirit Jesus breathed on the disciples in John 20:22.  

And so to this day, I cherish this devoted hymn, truly wanting God to fill my being, to propel my life, and thus, extend my days -- forever.     

“Breathe on me, Breath of God, fill me with life anew, that I may love what thou dost love, and do what thou wouldst do. -- Breathe on me, Breath of God, until my heart is pure; until with thee I will one will, to do and to endure. -- Breathe on me, Breath of God, till I am wholly thine; until this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine. -- Breathe on me, Breath of God: so shall I never die, but live with thee the perfect life of thine eternity. (emphasis added)” - Edward Hatch

And so, may the breathe of God come over all our concerns, including, our angst, over arithmetic of our days.