Even if you’re not a real planner-type person, it’s pretty hard to avoid all the plans we’re faced with almost daily.
Phone plans…internet plans…business plans…retirement plans…wedding plans… vacation plans…dinner plans…weekend plans.
Regardless of whether or not you’re the kind of person who likes to think about and plan for the future, there is one plan you should seriously consider putting on your calendar, and in your portfolio—God’s longevity plan.
In the beginning—after Adam and Eve sinned against God and He had to show them their exit plan from the Garden—we find that mankind started working the family plan, and the earth started becoming populated. Sadly, however, with more people came more sin…much more. It got so bad God decided to make changes:
“My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years” (Genesis 6:3, NLT).
You have to understand, Adam lived 930 years; Methuselah (Adam’s great, great, great, great, great-grandson) lived 969 years!
Apparently, everyone had too much time on their hands and kept getting into trouble. So after Noah—who was able to eke out 950 years, which included surviving an earth-changing flood—God’s new 120-rule kicked into effect.
But the real take away from all this is:
Where’s our 120 years?
For generations now, you’re doing well to get half of what God said would be our normal lifespan. Kenneth Copeland recently learned the average life span when he was born (1936) was 67. Now it’s 76. So we seem to be slowly inching back.
Still, even Moses, who actually got his 120 years in before leaving this life, raised the issue with God more than 3,000 years ago:
“Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away” (Psalm 90:10, NLT).
Moses wrote Psalm 90 as a prayer in the form of a song to God, interceding for the Israelites who were dying before reaching their Promised Land. They had rebelled against God while crossing the desert from Egypt, so they became subject to a curse by which they would die in the desert. Only their children would enter the land (Numbers 14:26-35).
Ironically, over time, Jews and Christians alike took out of context what Moses lamented to God about and began to interpret that God’s prophet was saying we’re only guaranteed 70-80 years of life on this earth, which wasn’t true.
Again, another scheme of the devil to try and steal, kill and destroy where our health—and longevity—are concerned (John 10:10).
Thankfully, connected to our divine healthcare plan is also a divine long-term healthcare plan, which Jesus said is to “have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)” (John 10:10, AMPC).
Moses said it like this (quoting God):
“With long life I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation” (Psalm 91:16, NKJV).
Galatians 3:13 affirms that Jesus redeemed us from every curse, including the sickness, disease and early death that the Israelites were living under in the desert. We’ve been liberated from the idea that we’re doing great if we make it to 70, maybe 80. Now we just have to think like it, talk like it, believe like it…and live like it!
To help you do that, realize that Moses also wrote Psalm 91 (that’s right, another song). But this one is the glorious answer to the gloomy issue he posed to God in Psalm 90.
Basically, Moses sang the problem in Psalm 90, then sang the answer in Psalm 91. We simply need to do the same.
Maybe Psalm 91 has been your battle plan against the enemy all along when it comes to your safety. But now, consider seeing it in a new light.
As you read, recite, pray, confess, meditate the first 15 verses of Psalm 91, see each verse as a step that will get you to the crowning reward God has for you—a long, satisfying life (70 years, 80 years…120).
Psalm 91, NLT:
1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished.
9 If you make the LORD your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!
14 The LORD says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.”
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