Prayer: Dear Lord, We pray for our students and co-workers according to Proverbs 23:23. We pray we all will know the truth, get wisdom, discipline, and understanding. Thank You, Lord. Amen

Scripture: Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom…May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. Ps. 90:12,17 KJV

She was about my age, almost fifty, and energetic, efficient, extremely competent. Now she was gone, dying all too quickly of a stroke. Fran Jones was our school system’s assistant superintendent, but she had served for the past school year as my school’s interim principal. We had often laughed together as we planned events for the school. She had won the hearts of all who worked with her and said this was one of the happiest years of her career. She had just begun a second year as an interim principal; this time at the Middle School, for what she hoped would be a short-term assignment. After a staff meeting, she fell ill and never recovered. She died several days later.

I guess that everybody has a clarifying moment like this, a time to reflect on his or her own life. This was the period for me in which Psalm 90 took on new meaning. I wanted to make a difference, live for Christ as I never had before, to affect lives for the Kingdom. Fran’s death had made me more eager than ever not to waste the time I had left.

Moses wrote this 90th Psalm. I wonder when he wrote it. Was it at a time when he cared for sheep in the desert, or after the Lord called him to lead His people out of Israel, or toward the end of his life as he struggled with the nation in the wilderness? Maybe he too saw someone important to him, vital, influential, and dying. Maybe he too wanted more than ever to be God’s servant with a significant ministry to His people. If God has you pray this kind of prayer, you can be sure that He has blessing ahead for you!

Copyright Shirley Wilson.  To connect with the author, email info@christianeducators.org

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