Five Years Is Not a Long Time (Psalms 90:10)

My medical residency was in pathology. At that time, the residency program was five years, one of the longer residency training periods. After my residency, I completed two additional fellowships. Given the broad and immense knowledge base of the field, five years does seem like an adequate length of time to assimilate and master the information. However, I did not take the long training period for granted. Every weekend, I spent all my free time in the hospital, reviewing study set slides of rare diseases and voraciously reading every textbook in pathology. Occasionally, other residents, who were on call, would stop by the office and ask me, “Are you on call?” assuming this would be the only reason why I would be at the hospital on a weekend. I would look up from my microscope and, smiling, say, “No, just here to look at study sets.” The response was always a quizzical, “Why?” And with equal confusion on my face, I would reply, “Five years is not a long time.”

Five years is not a long time.The five years provided a good foundation for my career but after my residency training was completed, the real learning began. I am still learning new things in pathology.

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty…

Psalms 90:10 (ESV)

This Bible verse, written by the Holy Spirit thousands of years ago, is remarkable for its prescience. The World Health Organization states that the average life expectancy in the world is 71 years and in the United States, it is 79.3 years. My parents passed away at ages 78 and 82 years. In the past five years, numerous friends and relative have passed away, all around 80 years. It is a sobering reminder of God’s sovereign control over our lives and His Creation. Now, in my mid-fifties, I am keenly aware that I am entering the last third of the years of my life.

Five years is not a long time for pathology training but it did provide a good foundation for my career. Eighty years seems like a  long time for a life but is it enough time to provide a foundation for your eternity? For nearly twenty years, I lived in darkness, openly defiant to God, even doubting His existence. But one day in 1982, Jesus Christ became my Lord and Savior. I am forever grateful that He saved me by His grace and mercy. It took twenty years. God has given most of us about eighty years to confess and repent of our sins and accept His Son, Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior. Is eighty years a long time? When compared to an eternity spent in loving fellowship with God or an eternity spent in everlasting tormenting separation from God, it a twinkle of an eye.

God is patient with all of us and gives us a lifetime to come to Him. The question all of us need to answer for ourselves is this-is eighty years enough time?

Love and trust the Lord; seek His will in your life.