By a thread

10:15 a.m. Today's project was to go to women's Bible study from 9:15 (for a leader) to 12:00 p.m. I say was, because our most reliable, on-time caregiver got sick overnight, and it was already morning when the schedulers came in to retrieve their messages.

It is now 10:40 a.m.; I just called the church to say I couldn't make it. A more than ample substitute leader took my group. Marcia even had practice from leading a group last night for the evening session of Anne Graham Lotz' The Magnificent Obsession. God is good!

I do not know the exact reason God allowed this to happen, although Steve and I got tons of work done in our garage, clearing out an area for the garage door repairman to come and take a look at our motor. I was actually able to schedule his visit for tomorrow afternoon or Thursday morning, the area is so clean and swept!

In a moment, the blink of an eye, plans and schedules, even ministry commitments, can evaporate. No one servant of our Master Jesus is indispensable! As Paul, the former persecutor and murderer of Christians, stated in Galatians 1:15-16a, God is pleased to honor us with even the most humble service:

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles...

Like our caregiver with the excellent "on-time" record, I pray to continue to have a good record of dependability to my church commitments, but only God has control over the vagaries of life, while His providence rules over all of His creation.

Our lives as a whole are governed by God, because our time here on earth is finite. REflect upon Psalm 90:9b-10 and 12:

We finish our years like a sigh.

The days of our lives are seventy

years;

And if by reason of strength they

are eighty years;

Yet their boast is only labor and

sorrow;

For it is soon cut off, and we fly

away.

...

So teach us to number our days,

that we may gain a heart of

wisdom.

Many of us in this country may attain one or two decades more time on earth; but others may not live to see the light of day at all. Let us treasure these days, use them for the Lord, and patiently see what He has for us as we accept and concur with His plans for our day!