Worshipful Wednesday: Birthday Blessings - Denise Pass

Psalm 90:4, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17

4 Yes, in your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday that quickly passes, or like one of the divisions of the nighttime. 10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years, or eighty, if one is especially strong. But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and oppression. Yes, they pass quickly and we fly away.  12 So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your loyal love! Then we will shout for joy and be happy all our days!  15 Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us, in proportion to the years we have experienced trouble!  17 May our sovereign God extend his favor to us! Make our endeavors successful! Yes, make them successful!

Psalm 92: 12-15

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13 planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14 They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” 

I love it when the LORD gives a Scripture that is so apt for the day.  As I cracked open my Bible today, the reading for today included the passage above.  Sweet time with Jesus on my birthday.

Even when days, months or years are hard, we can have complete joy in the love of God.  Every year we are given is a gift from God, invested for His glory.  We need to use our time wisely and not take it for granted.  Even when we are wasteful of opportunities in this life, none of it is wasted with Him and He uses it all.

As our years turn into yesterdays and we become aware of our aging, it is a great encouragement to me that God is never through with any of us.  In God’s economy, we are not less useful as we age, but moreso.  The wisdom we have attained over the years is just one aspect of our lives that becomes more valuable over time.  We can bear fruit for God’s kingdom and be used by God until the day we die.

Isn’t that amazing?  We do not have to dread another year – unlike the world system where people are not esteemed as much when they grow older, in Christ we are more valuable as we age.  And He will never be through with us, amen!

I love the traditions of honoring and remembering people on their birthday.  It is fun and a blessing to watch our Facebook account blow up with messages from people from different times in our lives who took a minute to greet us on the day God made us.

Today, I want to thank and honor God for giving me life.  My loving husband and each of my children, parents and friends are a treasure to me.  Of the many gifts God has given to me, healing from brokenness, physical healing, His provision, the best gift He ever gave me was rebirth – the knowledge of Him and His free gift of salvation.  Life is a precious gift and God longs to walk alongside us through the blessings and burdens of it all.

The expectations we have for this life can lead to gratitude or bitterness.  The twists and turns of each of our lives might not have been what we imagined they were going to be, but each of our life stories are ultimately His story as our lives are hidden in Christ.  God redeems every portion of our life and makes it a sweet offering when we place it all in His capable hands.  While some pages of our lives might be stained with tears, the lessons learned on those pages as we drew near to God are precious gifts, after all.

Lord, thank You so much for an abundant life in You!  I will be forever grateful for the greatest gift you continually give me each day – knowing You more.