Make Every Day Count

Originally appearing in Tapestry Magazine, May 2007

In Alice in Wonderland, when Alice comes to a fork in the road, she asks the Cheshire cat, “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?”“That depends a good deal on where you want to go to,” said the cat.“I don’t much care where,” replied Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”Can you relate to Alice’s response, or does the thought of not having a plan cause you to break out in hives? We are all wired differently. Some of us are planners, and others, like Alice, prefer to fly by the seat of our pants. And then there are those of us who wait to be “inspired” before we make a decision. “Great composers do not sit down to work because they are inspired, but become inspired because they are working” (Ernest Newman). Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven didn’t waste time waiting for inspiration, and neither did the Proverbs 31 woman.“She evaluates a field and buys it; she plants a vineyard with her earnings” (Proverbs 31:16). She saw the potential, made a plan, and followed through—making good use of her resources. Regardless of our personality type, the Bible has a lot to say about making plans and not wasting time. Paul said, “I do not run like one who runs aimlessly” (1 Corinthians 9:26). He told Timothy to train himself in godliness “since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come” (1 Timothy 4:8). In Psalm 90, David asked God to help him number his days; David wanted to make every day count, which ought to be the prayer of every believer.Take a moment to evaluate your days. I’m not suggesting that we all need to go buy a field and plant it! But are you making your days count and wisely using the resources God has given you? “Our God has boundless resources. The only limit is in us. Our asking, our thinking, our praying are all too small. Our expectations are often too limited”(A.B. Simpson).