PODCAST
Birthday Candles
January 22nd, 2017
Psalm 90:1-17
The candles on a birthday cake count the years: good years and hard years, sweet years and bitter years. In our celebration we often choose to remember just the happy times, whether it is our birthday or that of a loved one. If we could choose, all the years–all the days and the hours–would be sunny and trouble free. However, in the silence of the night, we know that some days have been tough, and tough days will come again.
It is those days when we have seen trouble that draw our hearts to seek God’s help, protection, and guidance. It is the hard times that deepen us. They teach us that in God’s mercy and grace, we will have the victory. We might be struck down, but we will not be destroyed; persecuted but not abandoned; perplexed but not in despair (see 2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
The psalmist says that we should number our days–times of affliction as well as good times–“that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). The morning brings us satisfaction in God’s unfailing love, “that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days” (v. 14).
Author: Hollie Ruthberg
