Counting the Miles

This is the year my husband and I and many of our friends have one of those "milestone" birthdays. I am excited for it. I really do hate trifling with all of those twenty-sixes and forty-twos. Let's just get to the big ones! My husband does not share the same sentiment. His body is wearing out, and as a big, strong man with an equally big, strong personality, I can understand his animosity toward the passage of time and all of the changes that come with it. That's not to say my body is not wearing out --for sure it is, but as women, we are not tasked with the guarding of our doors and the defense of those more vulnerable in the same way our husbands are. Generally speaking, we do not feel the same obligation to remain physically strong. Time is no more merciful to us, however. All things are susceptible to the ravages of use and time. Or maybe not.   

In Numbers 14:29, we read that God punished the complaints of His people by causing them to wander in the wilderness until the generation twenty-years old and older were no more. Forty years for the sin of others! Though, I wonder if those who survived could ever be judged innocent. I am inclined to think God took mercy on those younger because their leaders were such a terrible example. Anyway, I've always been fascinated by the declarations in Deuteronomy 8:4 and 29:5; the focus of both passages being God's goodness toward His people, His provision for them in the wilderness --wilderness they were forced to traverse because of the nation's offenses toward Him. 

Now, the Second Law of Thermodynamics states that the state of entropy of the entire universe, as an isolated system, will always increase over time. Simplified, natural things tend not to improve or renew with age: trees rot, mountains crumble, and people die. We know it is likely we will one day be forced to repair our vehicle, replace our phone, or buy a new dishwasher. We expect things to fail and people to get sicker with age. But God! Deuteronomy shows us the mercy of God, His grace and provision for His people. Sure, they had sinned; sure, their parents and grandparents perished in the wilderness; but God sustained them with more than the food and drink necessary to keep them alive! When they arrived in the Promised Land, they arrived in the clothing they wore when they left Egypt! Not in tatters. Not too small --Can you wear the same jeans you wore at nineteen? Not with broken straps or holes in the bottoms. Deuteronomy 8:4 says their feet didn't even swell! No bunions or blisters! Forty years, and yet, time had no bearing on their most essential resources.         

Will God keep us free of wrinkles and backaches? Perhaps. Can we be assured our bills will always be paid and our fridge forever brimming with good foods? Perhaps. But regardless of how God's goodness will be manifested in our lives, we can be assured it will be. Natural Law tells me my birthday party balloons will never automatically inflate but will eventually deflate. Probably before I even notice the new pain in my shoulder. But God's Law says that He is good and good to His people; He is Provider and Protector. We need not fear the consequences of age or entropy or life in a broken world. We can relax, stop worrying about the what ifs, and humbly receive the good God desires to give us. No matter how many milestones lie before us!