God’s Time Wins || Psalm 90:2, 4 || Manna for the Mind #66

Welcome to Day 66 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s passage, Psalm 90:2 and 4, delves into the concept of time and its connection to God’s influence in our lives. This is a topic that resonates with all of us, as we often find ourselves grappling with the pace of life and God’s timing.

Psalm 90:2, 4

2            Before the mountains were born, before you gave birth to earth and the world, from beginning to end, you are God.

4            For you, a thousand years are as a passing day, as brief as a few night hours.

This psalm was written by Moses (from the Torah), who reminds us that a thousand years are like a day to God. We don’t need to take this literally because we have no idea what a day is considered in God’s eyes. However, we are to take the meaning behind that statement. It’s that God isn’t limited by time. We can be discouraged when years pass, the world seems worse, and our bodies slow down or wear out. We may question if God is still working and why he’s working to rid the world of its evil. But remember, God’s not limited by time. He’s always working, even when we can’t see it. We can lean on him and his plans, finding comfort in his timelessness.

We must take away from this that just because things in your life may not be moving as fast as you’d like them doesn’t mean God’s not moving behind the scenes. God is getting prepared for the journey he’s created for us. Things may feel slow because we might be straying away from the path. God is using that time to recognize that things aren’t right and to lean on him to bring us back in the direction we need. It’s tough to release that control of time, but God is the ultimate creator and unbounded by it. Therefore, his timing is better than ours, and he understands the proper timing. Hear the struggles of the psalmist in Psalm 102:24-27.

Psalm 102:24-27

24          But I cried to him, “O my God, who lives forever, don’t take my life while I am so young!

25          Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth and made the heavens with our hands.

26          They will perish, but you remain forever; they will wear out like old clothing. You will change them like a garment and discard them.

27          But you are always the same; you will live forever.

The psalmist felt rejected and tossed aside because of the troubles he felt. How many of you have felt like that? Thrown to the side because someone dismisses or invalidates how you’re feeling or what you’re going through. These problems and heartaches can overwhelm us and cause us to feel like God isn’t there for us or has rejected us. Yet God is with us always and keeps all his promises, regardless of how we feel. Our feelings are responses to situations that happen in life, but they do not define our reality. We need to replace the momentary responses from our emotions with the truths found in God and through God. The psalmist of Psalm 39 talks about this in verses 5 and 6.

Psalm 39:5-6

5            You have made my life life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”

6            We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing. We heap up wealth, not knowing who will spend it.

The complexity of life is a common theme through the wisdom literature of the Bible: Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. Jesus spoke on it as well. We focus on its complexity by trying to gain security in our earthly life above everything else. This was different than the message that Jesus taught, though. While we should live a happy and healthy life on earth, our life doesn’t end when our earthly bodies perish. We will have a life of eternity to spend with God in heaven. This is our hope, our inspiration. We should be basing our earthly lives to prepare for our eternal future, filled with the love and presence of God.

David recognized that attempting to gain riches and status through accomplishing the tasks of the world would mean nothing when it comes to our eternal status. Few people understand that the only hope we have is found ultimately in the Lord. The answer to the question, ‘What’s the meaning of life?’ can only be found in God. There’s nothing on earth and nothing we can create that would answer this question soundly. Our purpose, our guidance, comes from aligning our lives with God’s plans. This is where true fulfillment lies.

Let’s close this devotional by returning to the original passage in the Psalms quoted by Peter in 2 Peter 3:8-9. We’ll focus on verse 8.

2 Peter 3:8-9

8            But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.

9            The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.

Verse 9 really answers the question, “Why doesn’t God rid the world of evil,” doesn’t it? God mourns when he sees his creation causing evil to the environment or other humans, but he doesn’t want to destroy his creation. God did that once in Genesis 6 and mourned about it, stating that God would never do that again. He doesn’t want people to be destroyed, but he wants people to recognize their wrongs and turn away from the evil desires, actions, and thoughts that they have.

God could have seemed slow to the believers in Peter’s time as they faced persecution of the government officials and longed to be rescued from it. God’s not slow, though; simply said, God doesn’t work on our timetable. There’s the goal of waiting for more sinners to repent before massive divine action takes place. This could mean the second coming, but we do not know. We know that we should sit around and wait for Christ to return, but we should realize that time is short and we have important work to do. Invite Christ into your schedule today, plan your day around his plans for you, and continue this cycle as long as you live. We don’t know when the second coming will happen, but it’s always good to be prepared.

Father God, thank you for the gift of time. Time feels fleeting at times and feels like molasses at others, but we know you created it for good. We also know that you operate outside of the structure of time that we have, so help be patient with your timing. Teach us to move and act when the timing is right. Build our faith to respond with obedience and excitement rather than fear and anxiety. It’s in your name, we pray. Amen.