White
Dress
By Elizabeth Cole
“Teach us to number our days that we may gain
a heart of wisdom.”
Psalm 90:12
There’s
a white dress hanging in the back of my closet right now. Handmade by a
Nashville relative, this treasure has tucks and pleats in all the right places,
with a beautiful fabric flower artistically placed. From shoulder to toe, it’s
a picture of precious youth, representing hope and a spiritual vision for the
future. At just 30 inches long, it has clothed each of our baby daughters when
my husband and I dedicated each one to the Lord Jesus.
There’s
a white dress hanging in the back of my closet right now. This treasure has
artful tucks and pleats in all the right places, with a beautiful fabric flower
perfectly positioned. From shoulder to toe, it’s a picture of precious young
adulthood, representing hope and a spiritual vision for the future. At quite a
bit longer than 30 inches, it will clothe our oldest in two months when she
marries her beloved.
So
these two dresses hang side-by-side…and I marvel at how fast the 22 years
in-between have raced. In Psalm 90, Moses comments upon how quickly life
passes, and then the New Century Version of verse 12 reads, “Teach us how short
our lives really are so that we may be wise.”
I
love that it’s Moses who wrote that. At the age of 40, he rejected a privileged
future as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter to identify with God’s people and with
God’s plans. Rather than resting in a life planned out and comfortable, He
chose to be about what lasts long beyond our short lives. Mistakes along the
way? For sure, but Moses intentionally opted to make the days of his life count
beyond the here and now…to invest them in a way that reaped eternal fruit, with
a spiritual vision for the future. I wonder how often his mind turned to what
matters most as he followed God’s leading in the middle of the craziness of
life with millions of people in the desert.
Oh
that we would be women of wisdom who have a spiritual vision for the future - -
viewing each day in light of eternity. That we would live as women of hope,
knowing that loving God and loving others matters most in the middle of the
craziness of our lives. Today? It’s a treasure…spend it well!
GOING
DEEPER:
1.
What recalibration of your heart might need to take place to view each day as a
treasure and to live it in light of what matters most? Talk to Jesus about
that. Is it a conversation you can have with a friend?
2.
Ask our God for the wisdom to live your life well.
FURTHER
READING:
Elizabeth is a wife
and mother of three grown daughters. She is the Director of Connecting and of
We Women at Oakwood Church.
