Tuesday, October 1, 2019

The Mundane Middle


I used to think that “midlife crisis” was simply a made-up term, but I’m changing my mind as I find myself there. It may be different for other people, but here are some things I’ve been wrestling with lately. There are no new milestones ahead. We grow up anticipating birthdays, school terms, graduations, marriage, career, etc., but we reach a point where things are settled into a fairly unchanging routine. Those who have children have an extra set of milestones to plan for, but the rest of us do not. There are slight variations in the routine from month to month, but the years ahead look very much like the years just past. And they stretch out like an unending parade into the future.

Routine can be comfortable, but it can also be boring. I can see why people might quit their jobs, buy cars, or do something else to shake things up. The options are more limited for those of us who are committed to a particular ministry, church, or location. There may be new hobbies to try (if you are so inspired) or places to go (if you have money and desire to travel), but what else? You can only read so many books or watch so much TV.

As I was thinking about these things, it occurred to me that there are a lot of time gaps in Scripture. Consider the time Israel spent wandering in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. We know it was forty years and we know a few of the events during that time, but all the stops of their journey are summarized very briefly in Numbers 33. What occupied their time all the rest of the days? They had forty years of collecting manna six days a week. Forty years of feeding their families and caring for their herds. Forty years of checking to see if the pillar of fire or the cloud was going to move. Forty years of gathering together for worship or for funerals. In short, forty years of routine activities.

There are many other silent periods as well. More than 900 years of Adam’s life. Moses’s years tending sheep. Almost thirty years of the life of Christ. We probably have more detail about the life and travels of the Apostle Paul than anyone else in Scripture. But what were Peter and John doing during that same time? Life is usually pretty routine for most people most of the time.

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 ESV). Alistair Begg commented on this verse,

“You see, this is not a mathematical request. This is not the psalmist saying, ‘Help me to count.’ You know, ‘Help me to know that Tuesday comes after Monday… and to multiply it by the number of years I’ve lived,’ and so on. No, he’s not saying that. It’s not even an actuarial request. He’s not suggesting here that somehow or another he might be brought to understand and calculate the statistics of survival. No, the key word is ‘aright’… What he is saying, when you read the whole psalm, is this: ‘Teach me to go through my life estimating time in light of eternity.’ ”

It seems in our culture that we measure the value of our lives by our accomplishments. And when there are no major achievements to record, life can feel monotonous and even purposeless. We don’t handle boredom well, and silence is practically unheard of. (No pun intended.) Kids grow up thinking that life will be full of constant entertainment and excitement, and they are unprepared for the realities of a working life. Job-hopping is becoming more common and more frequent, with the average tenure at a job being less than five years.

So what do we do when life becomes mundane? We can start with the prayer from Psalm 90:12, “Teach us to number our days,” asking God to help us evaluate our daily lives from an eternal perspective. It may be that some change is needed if our current priorities don’t align with His. But assuming that is not the case, we can move on to verse 14, “Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.” Perhaps we need to cultivate a heart of gratitude by taking time each day to remember some of the ways God has blessed us. Or maybe we can challenge ourselves and others to dig deeper in God’s Word, to memorize Scripture, and to invest more time in prayer. Setting new goals is one way to press forward and not to settle for the status quo. We can also look for small ways that we can serve and bless others in our church or community. If we’re going to spend eternity relating to God and to those who are members of His Body, we might as well practice that now.

“For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night… The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone as we fly away… Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalm 90:4, 10, 17).



© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.