April 27th was the three-month anniversary of the heart attack that nearly killed me. Not that I plan to go out and have a party with cake and ice cream to celebrate, but it’s worth noting.
As I continue to reflect on things I’ve learned, I’ve come to what is not exactly an earth-shattering conclusion: Life is Short.
You might be thinking, “Thank you for sharing that breaking news, Captain Obvious!”
We all know that life is short. But going to bed one night and almost not waking up drives the point home in new and refreshing ways.
One is the increased awareness of the swift passing of time that a brush with death brings.
Take, for example, King Hezekiah of Judah. In the Old Testament book of 2 Kings, chapter 20, the prophet Isaiah delivers a shocking message to the king:
“In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, ‘Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover'” (2 Kings 20:1).
Hezekiah did not receive this well. The next verses go on to say that he turned his face to the wall, wept bitterly, and asked God to reconsider. We can sympathize with him, given that he was likely only about 39 years old at the time.
God granted Hezekiah’s request and told him that he would give him 15 more years of life.
Talk about a double-edged sword!
On the one hand, he has another decade and a half to live.
On the other hand, he knows that he only has another decade and a half to live!
I have often wondered how Hezekiah responded to that knowledge. Did he count down the days and years he had left? Was knowing how much time he had a positive or negative thing for him? Did it bother him? Did he even think about it?
We’ll never know because the Bible doesn’t tell us.
But I’ve been reflecting on that story because I am now in a somewhat similar situation.
No, God hasn’t told me how much time I have left. (I’m thankful for that!)
However, at 65 years old (I’ll be 66 in September), fifteen to twenty more years, give or take a few years, is a reasonable life expectancy. So in a sense, at least, I’ve been put on notice. Not that I couldn’t have figured this out before my heart attack, but coming to the very brink of death sort of puts an exclamation point on it.
So what?
In Psalm 90:10, the psalmist writes:
“The days of our life are seventy years,
or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
even then their span is only toil and trouble;
they are soon gone, and we fly away.”
In the face of life’s brevity, does the psalmist mourn? No. He follows up two verses later with this prayer:
“So teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart” (Psalm 90:12 NRSV).
Another psalmist phrased it this way:
4 “Lord, let me know my end,
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight” (Psalm 39:4-5 NRSV).
It should come as no surprise to any of us that life is short, but the proper response to such knowledge should be to maintain a deliberate awareness of life’s brevity.
When you’re older, as I am, that’s easier to do than when you’re in your twenties or thirties. Yet it’s one of the most spiritually beneficial activities you can engage in.
How do you do number your days? A good place to start would simply be memorizing Psalm 39:4-5:
4 “Lord, let me know my end,
and what is the measure of my days;
let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a few handbreadths,
and my lifetime is as nothing in your sight” (Psalm 39:4 NRSV).
Lesson Learned: Life is short. Hezekiah knew it. I need to remind myself of it every day.