You have decided the length of our lives. You know how many months we will live, and we are not given a minute longer.” Job 14:5
No one really knew what was going to happen. As men developed aircraft that continuously went faster and higher, an invisible wall stood in the way—the sound barrier. Determining the speed of sound is a little tricky because several factors determine it. The bottom line is the speed of sound at sea level and 68 degrees is 767 miles per hour. Like most Baptists, the aviation world doesn’t respond to well to the unknown. And truth be told, no one knew what would happen when this event happened. As it turned out, it was largely very uneventful. It went like this.
On October 14, 1947, U.S. Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager piloted his experiential aircraft to the speed of Mach 1.06 or just over the speed of sound. Early attempts had confronted severe buffeting but this time the flight went smoothly. Despite all the fears, the transition to supersonic flight was remarkably uneventful. Franklin Roosevelt said, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and He was right. It reminds me of the big scare in the year 2000 when many predicted that the world’s computers would all crash because they weren’t programmed to go beyond 1999. Again, largely nothing happened. Surprise, surprise, surprise.
Well, this past Saturday, January 6, 2024, I broke a “sound barrier” of my own. On that day I turned 70—seven decades old. As this milestone approached, it kinda messed with my head. Oh, I know that age is just a number, but this number was getting high and coming pretty fast. For a long time, in my way of thinking, 70 was the threshold to being genuinely old. If it wasn’t old, you could certainly see it from there. I wondered what would happen and the answer was—nothing. It turns out age really is just a number and while seventy qualifies you as a senior adult it was not the end of the world as we know it.
All this reminded me that it really is God who holds our birthdays in His hand. It is God who numbers our days and even plans them. I think I’m learning that my responsibility is to trust Him and to live each day to its fullest. Right now, and I know today doesn’t necessarily predict tomorrow, but right now I am grateful that I don’t feel—70. I feel a bit older but that nasty age barrier, like the sound barrier, turned out to be not much of a barrier at all. So, wherever you are in this birthday thing, just remember that if we are having birthdays, we are still breathing. Oh, and if that should stop and you know Jesus, it simply means the best is yet to come. When your special day rolls around, remember to thank God for it and every day. Don’t let that barrier or any barrier keep you from believing that “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne
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