Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:1-2
May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands. Psalms 90:17 NIV
God is timeless. He is before time without a beginning and is eternal without end. For us our lives are set by time. We have a birthday and we celebrate the anniversary of that day every year. We mark time in so many ways. In the end we say our time has come and we think it has stopped. In this life our time is done and our time with loved ones is over.
We study the events in time, it’s called history. We label eras, we see how people and events may change the course of events.
We try to manage time, or more accurately our use of that time. We cannot add to it or subtract from it. It is a fixed quantity and by definition it has its own pace.
God gives a short piece of that time – 70 or 80 years. (Verse 10) Sometimes it is even far less. We will all die but it feels far more tragic when it is shorter or ends abruptly.
God gave some pretty clear instructions to his people, the people of Israel, when they were taken into exile. He told them they would be there in exile for 70 years. You might even say they would be there for a lifetime. But, they were live their lives. Don’t just sit around, but build houses, plant gardens, have children, and watch them grow up and get married.
Our time is on earth, is just a different form of exile and for about the same time period.
But while our lives even at 80 plus years may seem meaningless in the unending existence of God, it is not. Because God is doing something through us and to us and for us in that time. If only for that time he is working in us to know him and live under his mercy v13. Our work is part of his eternal plan.
Paul writes to the Colossians to put their whole heart into their work and work not for human masters, but for the Lord. It is God that we are serving. (Colossians 3:23&24). For me, my career has been in local government administration. But it is also my work as a parent or sibling. Maybe none of my work will mean anything in one day for the Lord (a thousand years), yet there is meaning and purpose in all those things in the years God has given me.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV
A Long Intentional Walk 