Every wonder what you're suppose to do with yourself everyday? I'm self employed, have been for over 28 years and there are many days I wonder, what am I suppose to do today. Oh it' easy when I'm working on a project and I know exactly what I'm doing until the work is finished. But much of my work is never finished, which for my personality can be a little unsettling. I'm a huge fan of finish lines and goals, but for a writer, those are ongoing. When I was a hairdresser the finish lines were much more clear- cut this person's hair today, work this many days this week- all at my own deciding, mind you. But it was fairly cut and dry.
hahaha pun not intended but it totally works.
Our scrolls, or books leap to my mind so often. Our scroll is the thing Psalm 139 mentions, what God set up in advance for us all.
The Scroll
Here, read this and you'll see what I mean;
"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made,Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." Psalm 139:13-16
Most people of the faith know this passage all too well. We quote and cling to it, rightly so. It is rich with truth as all scripture is. In recent months I have learned that the book mentioned in the last verse is the word "ספר" or seper (say-fer) and it also means a missive or document, a legal document or a scroll. It is ours from God, a legal document, a scroll a written order from Him for us so that we know exactly who we are and what we are meant to do.
The days were fashioned before our human eyes saw the light of day. I've always heard that it meant our days were numbered, meaning how long we will live on the earth, but the Hebrew text doesn't support that. It nearly says the days were fashioned. The word used here is the same used in Psalm 33:15, "he fashioned their hearts alike..."
Or in Isaiah 45:9 when the LORD is saying "... shall the clay say to him that 'fashioned' it, "what makes though? or thy work, He hath no hands'.
In other words, the words the passage is better understood as "your eyes saw me when my body was yet unperfected; all my days were written in your scroll and made (planned) before a single one of them began.
I'm called the cruise director in our house. My children have always looked to me for the fun and planning of the days activities. It can be incredibly exhausting because when the five of them were younger they'd all with 10 eyes stare me down and wonder out loud "so mom, what are we doing today." Many days my answer was and still is, "same as we do everyday, school in the morning, my work in the afternoon." Occasionally we had activities or a field trip or something that broke up the routine of the week. But weirdly they asked almost everyday what was planned for the day. Now we all ask each other out of courtesy because my older children work and I wonder out loud if they had other plans outside of working. My younger two still ask often "so mom, what are we/you doing today?"
Children want to know what the day holds for them. It's a form of needed security and assurance of no crazy surprises. Contrary to popular belief, most kids do not enjoy surprises, especially ones that throw them off guard. In my totally unofficial research people who say they like surprises have grown into liking them because likely their family of origin surprised them often. Again, it's not solid research but after 25 years of cutting hair, I've learned to not surprise someone if it involved changing up their routine for the day.
Children of God are pretty much the same way. It's like we never grow out of knowing what the days hold. Pastors and bible study leaders tell us that God never tells us His plans and we have to just trust Him. While there is a smidge amount of truth to that, the reality is, He wants to tell us His plans, or the current happenings of the day. It's how a relationship works.
This happens when we sit with Him and work our scroll, the book He has for us.
It's like this' at breakfast time is when my kids sit down and ask "what are we doing today mom", so why do we think God is any different?
Only He's the one at the breakfast table waiting for us to ask Him, "so God, what are we doing today?"
Have you ever stopped before you role out of bed and asked Him what is in your book for that day?
Have you ever asked before you went to sleep the night before?
If Psalm 139 is true and before our eyes saw the light of the world, He had the days all planned out, then wouldn't it make sense to ask Him before we begin to plan our day? And if you are like me, self employed, it would make much more sense to sit at His feet each day or evening and ask for the next day's assignments and tasks before we go and fill our days with what we think ought to be done. Regrettably I have done it my way more than I have done it His way. The kicker is, not necessarily that I am sad that I missed out on talking with the Lord about it, although that does make me sad. But that I missed out on His perfect plan for many days, you know? Of course my mornings include sitting with the Lord and praying over the various needs of the day. But to sit and ask Him to pull out the day planner of my heavenly book and give me the 411 on the day's events, yea that is not always my pattern.
ever write an article only to find yourself totally undone by the words the Lord is pouring out through you? Like the article is more for you than it is for your readers? Maybe it's just me...
We have a book, a scroll that everyday there are these wonderful plans that He made for us. Things to do and experience. People to help and heal. Books to write, stories to tell, items to invent, prayers to pray and so much more. Yet how many of know what that book says as we wake up each day? How many of us have our planners scheduled a week or two in advance?
My best work comes from when I sit with Him and ask, "what do You think we should do today?"
When my husband was alive, the kids and I would make plans and after it was all said and done I'd turn to him and ask "well what do you think?" He wasn't a snarky man, but he would often look at me and smile and say, "does it matter? You guys have the whole thing planned." He wasn't angry or irritated but more just wanting to point out how useless my question to him was. We had already made the plans and I had likely gone further into calculating leaving times, snacks or overnight stops. He was often 'along for the ride'. There are days now that I regret not asking him first on everything. It wasn't always that we didn't ask, but most days. When he did get a say or get asked before the plans were set, inevitably the activity involved biking somewhere.
In your life, is God along for the ride or do you wait for Him to tell you what He has in mind?
If we know what the days are suppose to hold then our purpose is so crystal clear that there isn't any confusion as to what we are doing on this earth. And if there isn't any confusion in that, likely we know that we were crafted and formed by a loving Father who not only made us, but planned the days out in advance! Talk about the ultimate cruise director! And if the days are planned out in advance, there's no wondering or worrying about what they hold.
And then, when we speak to those who don't know our God, who are floundering for purpose and stability, we can turn around and share the "book" with them and help them find out what their own scroll says.
It's like when my older children know the plans of the day and my youngest comes in to ask them, they turn around and say, "go ask mom", because they know, mom has it all figured out, they only need to ask.
If you want to know what tomorrow holds, I'm going to say the same to you, "go ask our Father." He knows full well what His plans are. And I also know, He's been waiting to tell you.