Last week I wrote this post promising a follow-up answer.  After a very long week that included some visits to people, some rather intense pain and almost sleepless nights from my cycling accident of July 11th, and some other “stuff” I finally feel it is time to give my response to the previous post.   I have to  admit to some disappointment that more didn’t “put in their two cents worth” about the topic of numbered days but be that as it may, I have some thoughts I shared with the widow (“Jane” Doe) upon my visit with her last week.  The memorial service was held Sunday at a VFW and I made an appearance because of a previous commitment.  Good thing.  It must have been like 100 degrees inside a building whose AC was not efficient enough to handle the amount of people.  My visit with her a few days later was in the home where we had some relative privacy in the kitchen while the rest of the family was playing video games or just messing around on the computer.

As the other post says, the husband/father (“John” Doe from here on) was 39.  What it does not say is that he weighed about 650 pounds and had been turned down for “the surgery” twice for various reasons (crock in my book).  John was, as far as I know, not a believer.  He mocked the church and God but who is to know what sort of decision he made before he died?  Did he realize how bad things were and what a fool he had been and call out to Jesus before breathing his last breath?  Even the wife does not know. I would like to hope so.  So my post is not to judge him.  It is not my place to do so anyway.  In answer to my post, my friend, Paul, gave me Psalm 39:1-7 as a reference.  The key verses to my thoughts are verses 4-6 (save me time and space by looking them up…please).   Psalm 37:23 says, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord.”   Several other verses skirt this issue as well in Job, Psalms and also Ecclesiastes.  Isaiah speaks to the real issue in my mind: the (fore)knowledge of God.  Isaiah 40: 12-14 are big verses for me. I have to believe, if I believe in an Omniscient God (which I do), that He does know how many days I have.   Do I think my days are handled like I am a puppet on a string?  No.  I have been given free will to use my day wisely.  Hopefully, wisely serving Him.   One of the things I told “Jane” is that she is asking me an unanswerable question to my human mind.  I believe there are some things the mind of man is never to know the answer to.  Can anyone, for example, totally understand the Trinity (God is Three in One)?  I can give all the father/ husband/ son or water/steam/ice explanations I can but even those fall short in the long run.  Because I believe the Bible teaches it, I believe it, even though I cannot understand it. I am going to let God sort it all out since I figure He knows the answer anyway.  I took the same approach with “Jane’s” question: let’s not play judge and jury in “John’s” death (she is deeply concerned what she will tell her children when they start really asking about dad’s eternity) and let’s leave it in the hands of the One who knows. As for numbering our days…yes I believe God knows how many days I am going to live but because I don’t, He wants me to live them trusting Him and relying on His grace and strength to live them well.

So…your thoughts?  Agree or disagree?  I would like to hear what you think.