Brevity of Life - Importance of Faith

“LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” [Psalm 39.4-5]

This is not a bad prayer to pray every day.

How different might our lives look if we remained mindful of the brevity of them? 

For one thing, "things" would not matter so much, would they?

In fact, happiness would not matter so much... But let's not talk about that, right?

We have this short lifetime to accomplish God's will. Now, before "going off" on all the unknowns of God's will, let's just keep it simple by staying focused on what we KNOW to be God's will: FAITH. Nothing we do pleases God that is not based on faith.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. [Hebrews 11.6]

Faith is simply this:

Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see. [Hebrews 11.1]

I may die "believing" God is my Healer while otherwise modern medicine might extend my life a few days, months, or years. But which way is the way of faith? If life is truly as brief as the Psalmist says it is, what does it matter? This is intensely more critical then if it turns out that going to the doctor is a sidestep to, and usurps the exercise of, genuine faith in God alone! It matters not what prevailing secular or religious opinion on this topic is - what matters is what God sees! And, what the Psalmist says God sees is that our respective lifetimes are just a moment - a breath. In that "moment" does God see faith?

Does He?

Father, may I be found trusting in You alone. May I not be found holding on to alternative sources for that which You said You would provide. In the brevity of this my life, may I be like Abraham, who, believed You without taking an alternate sacrifice "...just in case that was the way You chose to work..."