Let’s Number Our Days: 6 Ways To Make Days Count

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12

The first time I remember thinking on Psalm 90:12 was around the years of 2008-2009. The pastor of our church was doing a sermon series called Pursuit of Joy. Long story short, and from what I remember, it was talking about walking in joy, even when times can be anything but joyous. What does that look like? Is it even possible? We followed the life of Paul and when he was threatened with death, he was all, ummmmm, okay. So, you see, I have this problem. If you kill me, I go to Heaven. SCORE. If you don’t, I get to stay here and continue to spread the good news. Yay. He was seeing the positive and walking in joy, even when his surroundings and circumstances weren’t all rainbows and unicorns. 

This verse stood out to me, and I even remember this timeframe, because Jer and I were walking through a turbulent time, that to many, and let’s be honest, even us at times, looked downright scary. We owned a business and long story short; we lost a lot during that season of our lives. We had to turn our car back into the bank, and our home went into foreclosure. We lost a lot of material things, and we also had some friendships get a little wonky in the process. It was A LOT. All of this was happening slap dab in the middle of this sermon series at church. I remember writing out the verses from the series, memorizing, and meditating on them. I can vividly picture the sermon notes in my hand and me sitting on the bed thinking on this verse and hiding it in my heart. 

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

What thoughts come to your mind when you think on this verse? Does anything stand out to you? Before I continue with some of my personal thoughts, do you mind if I challenge you, maybe encourage is the right word, to spend some time today thinking on this verse? Meditate on it. Chew on it. Bring it back up throughout the day and think about it some more. Talk about it with a friend, your spouse, a family member. Ask the Lord to speak to you through this verse. It’s a prayer we can pray. Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. 

What You Watch, Grows

In the book Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker, one of the points in the book is, “what you watch, grows”. That quote came to my mind when I was thinking on this verse today. One key thing I like to teach when coaching others in their businesses, is to always know your numbers. If you don’t know your numbers, you are clueless. What I mean by that is, if you are in commissionable sales or really any type of business revolving around sales, if you don’t know what you are bringing in, then you don’t know what you can potentially profit. If you begin to become intentional with watching your numbers, then you SEE what is happening and it’s on the forefront of your mind. 

I remember there would be times I would be analyzing sales of people in my organization, and I would see they were so close to meeting a goal. When I reviewed their numbers, I could see they were $60 away from unlocking a bonus of hundreds of dollars that could be paid to them. By me watching the numbers, I saw these opportunities for financial increase. Think of the saying, “out of sight, out of mind”. It’s true. If we aren’t watching it, it’s off our minds. What we watch, grows. 

Losing Focus During Times of Comfort

Staying on this subject for a bit longer, let’s look at the opposite side of this coin. If what we watch grows, what we don’t watch stalls, becomes stagnant, or doesn’t flourish and thrive. Let me give you a good example of this at my own expense. I will throw myself under the bus. There was a period in our lives when we were so comfortable in the amount of money we were making, that we began to lose focus and track of what we spent each month. We knew we had more than enough on hand, so we weren’t pinching pennies and combing through the budget with a fine-tooth comb. When the paycheck started to decrease, (UH OH), what do you think we did? We started paying attention to our numbers. We picked the budget apart, and lo and behold, we found so much money that was being wasted. It was embarrassing. We lost focus in the times of comfort. Listen, it is SO EASY TO DO. Thankfully we had a wakeup call and got our booties back in line. 

Does this make sense? I mean sometimes things make sense in my own head and I’m over here wondering if this is just a lesson I need to be learning. Can you think of times in your life when you lost focus in times of comfort? What did it take to get you to snap out of it and reel it back in? 

Isn’t it wild how we can fall into the same “comfort” trap with our days like we talked about in the financial example above? When things are going great and life is on easy street, we could have a week, a month, a year pass by and we just are going through the motions of life. We have a major health scare, or someone close to us passes away, and we begin to realize how fragile life can be and we decide we are no longer going to take each day for granted. If you were told you have fourteen days left to live, I bet you would go out and make the most of every hour and every minute of those fourteen days. Why? Because they were numbered. They now become super valuable. Lord, teach us to number our days with this much intentionality. 

I know this is going to sound over the top morbid but roll with me here. If you had fourteen days left to live, what would you do? How would you spend it? What would be of the utmost importance to you? Who would you spend it with? I have asked a lot of questions through this post, so if you find a notebook and write out your answers, I do believe you will earn a million gold stars. You need those gold stars. They are highly valuable. 

Mindfulness Meets Intentionality

How does this all pertain to numbering our days? Lord, teach us to NUMBER our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. I believe the same concept we mentioned above unfolds. What we watch, grows. When we are mindful of our days, the quality of the day begins to grow. The depth and meaning of our days grow. They thrive. It’s where mindfulness meets intentionality in each day, and wisdom begins to flourish. When we number something, we take note of it. We acknowledge it and recognize it. Oh, hold up one second. Let’s hit on that word acknowledge. Did this verse come to your mind?

In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:6

Lord, please, we beg of you, TEACH US the importance of numbering our days. We want to acknowledge you DAILY. We thank you that when we do this, we are gaining a heart of wisdom, but you are also making our paths straight. 

Six Ways To Make Your Days Count

Once we understand the importance of numbering our days, how do we actually do it? Really. I mean how can we kick this up to crazy level and grab hold of that heart of wisdom?

1. Understand the importance of an “eternal” mindset. Things of this world will fade away, but the eternal will last forever. Investing time in our relationship with the Lord is a fantastic way to be intentional with our days. Meditating and hiding HIS WORD in our hearts will pile up that wisdom. It’s like a dump truck backing up (insert beeeeep beeeeeep beeeeep) and emptying it in our hearts. Lord, help us keep an eternal mindset.
   
   
2. Show others Jesus. Who’s in your immediate circle? I’m talking about friends, family, and those you work with daily. I’m not saying you must constantly be shoving Jesus down their throats but are we showing them Jesus?  Are we loving them like Jesus loves them? Do they see something inside us that’s different? These are the people the Lord placed in our lives for such a time as this. They are part of our days, so Lord, we ask you to teach us to walk them out well. Help us show them YOU. When we are mindful and intentional with these relationships, we are numbering our days and gaining a heart of wisdom. 
   
   
3. Embrace your unique design. Did you know that you are uniquely made? You have been knit together with a certain skill set. You have gifts, talents, and passions that are overflowing in your life. If you are thinking, yeah right, I don’t have any of those things, oh boy, you and I are going to have loads of fun around here. I hope you stick around. YOU are not an accident, and you are here right now for a PURPOSE. When we embrace our unique design, we are walking that out in worship to the Lord. It’s where things get kicked up to a crazy level. It’s where striving ceases and effortless work, flows from our very being. Working within our gifts, talents, and passions is a great way to number our days. There is much wisdom in using the gifts the Lord gave us. 
   
   
4. Use your blessings to bless others. We are blessed to be a blessing. How can we use our material possessions, our homes, our money, to bless others? When the girls were younger, we always wanted our home to be the home kids wanted to hang out at. Lord, teach us ways to use the things you have blessed us with to be a blessing to others. When we mesh mindfulness with intentionality, we begin to number and put value to these blessings. You know what happens, yep, wisdom is coming on the scene. Dump it on Lord, dump it on. Thank you Jesus. 
   
   
5. Get the things you value in your day. Understand what you value. What is important to you? Make sure those get in your day. Every day. We live in a time where life can get so busy. Distractions are all around us. It steals our days. Lord, teach us to number our days. May they be filled with focused time with you, our family, and friends, and how you have uniquely gifted us, help us use our blessings to bless others.
   
   
6. Walk in freedom and stand on the truths and promises of God. I don’t like to give the devil any publicity, but the fact is, he roams around seeking out things to kill, steal, and destroy. Kind of pathetic. Our days can easily become distracted by petty arguments on social media, comparing ourselves to others, and the guilt and shame of our mistakes and imperfections. Does this sound like any of your days? It’s time we recognize this for what it is and walk in freedom and stand on the truths and promises of God. Look at the petty argument as a battle and a battle not against flesh and blood. Understand that comparison is sucking the very life from your soul. Who told you weren’t this enough, or that enough? Tell that voice to go back to the pit of hell where it came from. Guilt and shame? It can go right back there too. Wisdom is seeing these things for what they are, and they are NOT OF GOD.

Closing Out With Prayers and Blessings

Okay, I got a little fired up there for a second. I want to end our time together by reviewing the very last verse of Psalm 90. It’s an excellent verse to pray over our lives as we end this discussion. Check it out. 

May the favor of our Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us, yes, establish the work of our hands.  Psalm 90:17

One of the best ways to number our days and walk with that heart of wisdom, is to understand we need HIS FAVOR to rest upon us. We can do things in our own might, but man, I want to do what HE has set out for my life, and I am desperate for HIS FAVOR to be upon it. Lord, YOU establish the work of our hands as we go about our days. We will work, but we want YOU to establish it. 

I did a little bit of research on the Hebrew word that is used for “establish”, and it means to be firm. The origin comes from the word “root”. Lord, as we number our days, we thank you that you are establishing them and making them firm. Lord, you are the “root” of all we do. This makes me think of one final verse.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing. John 15:5

Yes, yes, yes. Thank you, Jesus. We are numbering our days as we abide in you. We thank you for the fruit that will overflow, one of those being wisdom. A heart of wisdom. 

Let’s Connect More, Okay

Before we part ways, do you mind if I share a few things that’s been on my mind as I’ve been writing this post? I would love for us to stay connected. I understand that Facebook is not everyone’s cup of tea, BUT, if you are on FB, let’s connect over in our Facebook Group where we can discuss some of these posts on the blog in more detail. We talk Jesus, family, wellness, travel, saving money, making money, the list goes on and on. I want that to become a home for those needing a community. You can join the FB Group HERE. 

If Instagram is your thing and FB is totally archaic, then find these posts in the Insta feed and engage with them. I want to hear from you. Insta is a bit of the cliff notes version, and the blog will be where we can go into a bit more detail. I’m @moniquemclean over on Instagram.

Finally, if someone came to your mind as you were reading through this post, share it with them. Find a buddy you can talk through these questions asked in the post. We are better together. You are being intentional and numbering your days as you talk about things like this with a friend or family member. I really do believe that. Lord, help us build strong connections through our friendships as we discuss these verses. 

I have to say, I have thoroughly enjoyed our time together. I pray the Lord blesses you as you go about your week. I believe it’s going to be the best week ever.