“Lord, you have been our dwelling place
in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
You return man to dust
and say, ‘Return, O children of man!’
For a thousand years in your sight
are but as yesterday when it is past,
or as a watch in the night.
You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning:
in the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
in the evening it fades and withers...
For all our days pass away under your wrath;
we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
The years of our life are seventy,
or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away…
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:1-6,9-10,12
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
Grit from a flatbed truck ticked on the windshield like rain. Miles of sky stretch with otherworldly hues, miles of pavement stretch grey behind and before. The infinite God measures perfectly the drops, the distances, the destination, and man in all his planning and desire is beholden to His vast and certain purposes. Who is a God like this who condescends to commune with us and determine our lines? (Psalm 16:5-6; 89:6-8; 113:5-8; Isaiah 40:25-31)
There are days we weary of the routine and crave something different, more. There are seasons that seem an impassable, impossible slog, situations that have no set or happy ending. The human condition causes a constant tension of emotion and achievement, friction between determination and dreams, the impermanent and eternal.
Where are we too entrenched in the world? Where have we evaded wisdom and the long view for superficiality or momentary pleasure? Do we resist God’s hard and trying lessons and tire of His paths? How will we reestablish our course on His good highway, trusting His faithfulness? (Isaiah 35:8)
As the tangible present rolls toward an unseen everlasting, we need wisdom and perspective for the moments along the way. The Spirit is nigh the conflict of now and not yet. The Lord tames restlessness, instills perseverance, and divinely justifies time, place, and desire for the miles here below while fitting us for heaven.
“Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home:
Under the shadow of your throne
Your saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is your arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood
Or Earth received her frame,
From everlasting you are God,
To endless years the same.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last
And our eternal home.” ~Isaac Watts (1719)
Lord, keep me steady and persevering on Your highway of holiness, to Your eternal glory.
As the rain and snow 