He Knows the Number of Our Days

Job 14:5 "You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer."

I was talking with a friend today about this very thing. The conversation started off innocent enough, but quickly turned to a read discussion about the length of our lives. The Bible says that God has numbered our days. He has planned our days, and the works for us to do. But... I can't help wondering if we, somehow, get a say in that final number.

Think about the person who takes their own life. Aren't they taking that decision away from God and making it themselves? Surely we can't believe that they had reached their assigned number of days from God and this was how He chose their days to end. Our decisions have a bearing on our lives today and on our future, don't they? I say yes. And then...

Think about the person who eats terribly unhealthy food, smokes, drinks excessively, and lives to 95. Then recall the person we've all heard about who tried to be as healthy as possible, and was taken by cancer in their 30's. What does this say about our days? What does it say about God?

What if Billy Graham was a beer-guzzling adulterer who cursed like a sailor and spent his days at the top of the illegal drug market. Would he still be here, living the final days of his life? One would assume that the more foolish chances we take, the more likely we are to pay for them - with our lives.

Our discussion eventually centered around Moses and the fact that he didn't enter the Promised Land, as originally intended. Here's Deuteronomy 32:50-52 "There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel."

The italics above are mine, so you would see that it appears God changed his original plan. Perhaps Moses would have crossed over earlier with the Israelites and still died on the same day. Maybe God shortened his days because of Moses' disobedience. We really don't know.

I don't have the answer to this question, and it kinda disturbs me. I mean, if a person is trying to live their life to glorify God, why wouldn't He extend their days for the benefit of His kingdom? Why would God allow a person who intentionally hurts others to live well into their golden years? And in the case of Moses, why would God allow one mistake to change how long Moses was going to live?

Maybe we have no say, and we have a certain number of days regardless of our choices. But maybe our choices "help" God, in his omnipotence and sovreignty, determine those days before any of them ever begin. After all, He has ALL days numbered, and sees the whole of time from beginning to end in one glimpse. Our days are just a pinpoint in the tapestry he's painted. But I'm glad my short days matter to Him.