What I Learned from the Train

Janie and I just returned from a vacation to the west coast. We spent a few days in L.A. before we boarded a train for a 34-hour ride to Seattle. It was just me, Janie, and the retirees, riding the rails. We took a lot of naps and spent most of the time just staring out the window. It was beautiful, riding quietly through uninhabited places of our country. There were mountains, lakes, forests - all wizzing by.

That was the challenge - if either of us saw anything interesting, it was difficult to point it out before it was gone. Everything whipped by so quickly. It was beautiful, and then it was gone. Slowly, Janie and I learned to stop trying to comment on everything, and just enjoyed the view.

It reminded me of a prayer from Psalms 90 that is actually a prayer of Moses. Moses was a leader of God's people who spoke with God, and this is his prayer from Psalms 90:12:

"Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom."

Moses believes that there is a wisdom that can only be gained by realizing how quickly our lives pass by. Moses' asks for God to give him a perspective that most of us don't like to think about: our lives are moving by quickly. When we begin to realize how short our lives are, we really start to see how small we are. As that happens, we start to realize how big God is. As our days quickly pass away, God stands forever. He never changes and He will always be. As we make our selves smaller, we begin to have a right perspective on how big God is.

That's the perspective Moses is looking for. He's not hoping that God will cause His people to despair, waiting for something bad to happen to them, but Moses wants a wisdom that understands who is really in control. When we remember that we don't have any control over the span of our life, we remember that we aren't in control.

That is something I need to be reminded of over and over in my life. Typically, I try to control things. I want to move circumstances around to improve things. But, as a follower of Jesus, I have given up my life to God. When I am reminded of how quickly things are passing by, I'm reminded that I don't have the power to control things - only God does.

Moses realizes that numbering our days leads us to the conclusion that God alone can be trusted. That's the "heart of wisdom" that he talks about.

On the train, wisdom became slowing down and enjoying the view. In our lives, wisdom is understanding that God is in control and can be trusted. If you feel so worried about circumstances in your life that feel out of your control, pray this along with Moses:

God, teach me to number my days, that I may gain a heart of wisdom. AMEN.