“Teach me to number my days, and count every moment before it slips away, taking all the colors before they fade to gray, I don't want to miss even just a second more of this.”
I went to the beach over the summer, one of the many perks of living in California. This beach has to be one of my favorite places in the world, one of the main reasons being because is has an amazing rock-laden landscape. It is one of the most distinct things you’ll ever see. There is a huge hill that leads directly to a cove, and right off the cove, there lies several multi-million dollar homes build directly along the ledge. It’s one of those places that you just like to look at because it’s so beautiful.
Well, I have a bit of a confession to make. Back when I was younger, I was climbing that very hill and slipped. I wasn‘t hurt, mostly shaken, but it did scare the wits out of me. For the longest time after that, I didn’t want to climb the hill. My family would ask me to go along with them every time we went to the beach, but most of the time I would either decline or climb just far enough to keep a safe distance. It’s not one of the smoothest hikes you’ll ever make, the whole hill is one giant rock formation, one slip and your gonna fall --hard.
I didn’t know what it was at the time, but this summer as I was at that very same beach, I had a sudden desire to climb that hill. When I asked some of my family to come along, I think they were more surprised than I was. As we started up towards the rocks, I began to unleash my inner wilderness scout. Something in me wanted to keep climbing further and further up, even once I’d made it to the tiny cove on the ledge, I wanted to keep going, exploring further up the hill than I’d ever gone before.
As I continued onward, I jammed myself in between two large stone walls that had a pathway filled with overgrown grass and weeds. Smack dab in the middle of the all the dying shrubs, there was one single flower that stood out. It was by far one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. I can’t even describe the color to you; it was a lavender daisy with bright purples and pale whites running throughout each pedal. Although I wasn’t able to get a good picture of it, the memory of that flower hidden on the top of a stone hill will forever stay engraved in my mind. Looking back on the moment, I think the Lord was giving me the strength to conquer my fear of that hill. Not only did I make it to the top (while wearing flip flops, might I add), but nothing in me wanted to back down. I wanted to embrace the moment and stay there for as long as I could.
God has been doing that a lot with me lately, helping me to conquer fears. I've started to realize just how short life is, I mean, it might seam like a big deal to live until your 80, maybe even 90--and it is--but when you look at that compared to eternity, 90 years is nothing. In the New Living Translation of the bible, James 4:14 says that our life is “like the morning fog --it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.”
We’ve been put on this earth and given the gift of life. No one knows how long we have, only God Himself, but what we do know is that God wants us to live our life to its fullest. He doesn’t want us cowering the corner, afraid that if we take a risk we might regret it. How horrible would it be to come to the end of your life and realize you never lived, you merely existed? God wants to us embrace every moment of the life we’ve been given, and to be able to look back in the end, no matter what the outcome, and be able to say, “I did it.”
One of the lyrics is Revive’s song ‘Blink’ says "teach me to number my days, and count every moment before it slips away, taking all the colors before they fade to gray." That day on the hill, I literally experienced that moment. Had I not climbed those rocks, I never would have seen that lavender flower. I would have missed out on the opportunity to conquer my fear and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation, and it’s the same for all of us. When we don’t take chances and embrace every moment we are given, we miss out on all the things God wants us to do, all the moments He wants us to see and experience.
It’s a crazy thought, but if you were to die in the next five minutes, would be you able to say that you lived life without any regrets? Our life on earth is like a breath, one moment you’re here and the next you're gone. We can’t sit around in the corner and let life pass us by while we play it safe. We need to experience life, and not just watch others do it. If you're breathing right now (which I hope you are), this is your moment, your God-given opportunity to live life to the fullest. In the blink of an eye, our lives are going to be over. But while our eyes are still open, we need to take everything in, make the most of every moment, and embrace all the colors of life.
Take a nice long glimpse at the bigger picture, you might just find your place in it.
