Friday, November 28, 2008

Wasted Years!

Have you ever wondered what we would do if there were no clocks or calendars? How would we know how to plan our day, or when to plant fields, or celebrate important occasions? How would we know if we were balancing our time well to get to appointments on time? We often take many of life's most important blessings for granted without much thought how we could live without them. Time is one of those blessings. Both the clock and calendar are responsible for the great accomplishments or sad failures many people have experienced. For most of us, our life is told by how we used the time God gave all of us for each day!

Years ago we traveled through many states speaking in behalf of missions and the need to plant churches in the countries of Korea and Thailand. As you can imagine, it was necessary to leave our home at a set time in order to arrive at our speaking appointments with sufficient time to speak to leaders before sharing the needs of Korea and Thailand. I remember several times though we studied our maps, counted the miles, calculated the traveling time and followed directions there were still times when we missed an exit and had to drive an extra 3-5 miles before we could turn around and return to the proper turn-off. There were times too when I felt we were not on the right road but my husband refused to stop and ask directions. He insisted he knew the way, only to arrive just minutes before the service began. Once, we completely circled an area of the Blue Ridge Mountains only to exit at the very place we had entered because we didn't stop to ask directions. We wasted two hours! Has this ever happened to you? (I need not say more....!!)

Wasted time can be the reason for a person's lack of self-discipline, motivation or delayed development of habits that end in lost opportunities. And it all began with wasting time, which developed into wasting days and in some cases turned into wasted years. Sometimes we regret our decisions after it is too late.

I think of Elijah, that great prophet of God who called down fire from heaven in a contest with King Ahab (I Kings 18-19). God had used him mightily, yet after the contest when King Ahab's wife, Jezebel, heard that Elijah had ordered all of her prophets of Baal to be killed, she sent a message to him that she would kill him the next day. And --suddenly Elijah fled for his life without inquiring from God what he should do. His flight took him to a desert! A desert! Think of the wasted days he spent in the desert because he did not inquire from God what to do!

A sure way to avoid a wasted life is to stay in close fellowship with the Lord and the Holy Spirit in prayer everyday! No matter what is happening in your life, the Holy Spirit can speak to you through His impressions in your heart or through the Word of God to give you direction that will sharpen your spiritual insights, strengthen your self-disciplines, and help you to know His plan for your life. A set time of prayer every day will cause you to grow in your faith and know the direction to take to develop the talents and gifts God invested in you. You jusr need to ask direction and you will receive it!

Why does it take time to know God's leading for one's life? Sometimes we have so many things going on at the same time that we hurry through our time with the Lord in prayer and reading His Word. When we do this, we often have not received anything from Him to think about through the day. We assume He knows how busy we are and that He should know we are in a hurry to take care of other needs. Yes, He knows, but He also wants us to develop a close fellowship with Him so that we may truly KNOW Him, not just know about Him. He knows when you are anxious and concerned but by giving God a specific time to be with Him, He will give you peace, speak to you and make His presence go before you that day. He wants you to be aware of His presence during difficult decision-making times, sick times, when several issues are before you and you need to know which of them should have first priority and why. Some people enter their senior years and with an ache in their heart that they have wasted many years, especially because they have not grown spiritually. They feel their life is like an empty well. The good news is if you have felt this way, you can turn the situation around even today by beginning a prayer life again that gives God your best time.

While I was a missionary in Korea, there was a time when I did not feel well because of my heavy schedule. As I prayed about my health, I felt the Lord impressed me to spend more time in prayer and reading His Word, because there is life in His Word! I thought I had been spending quality time in my daily devotions; but I felt the Lord was impressing me to give Him a special time: = from 3:00 a.m. - 4:30 a.m. At first I thought it was my own imagination! How could anyone ever awaken from a deep sleep at 3:00 a.m. (unless the Lord awakened one to pray for an urgent need, and I did know about the times when that happened)? But the thought persisted so I told the Lord if He would awaken me at 3:00 a.m., help me to stay awake for the hour and a half, then help me to sleep again until 6:30 a.m., I would do it. The next morning I awakened at 3:00 a.m. on the dot! I took my Bible and song book to the kitchen (as we always took time to sing before reading the Word), spent my hour and a half and went back to bed until 6:30 a.m. I was amazed that at 3:00 a.m. my mind was clear, I felt refreshed and alert and I enjoyed the new time of devotions. My strength began to be renewed and I spent the last two years in Korea with my new schedule, before retiring from Missions. I think sometimes we make excuses for reasons why we cannot or will not listen and hear what the Lord may be saying to us....and because of that we miss the very special touch from God that He planned to give us.

Do you feel you may have wasted years? If you do not feel the spiritual growth you have longed for, it is important to know that you may be the one who has knowingly allowed "things" to fill your days instead of giving God first priority in your busy life.

There are reasons why some people feel unfulfilled in life. The first priority is to know the Lord by surrendering your life completely to Him and inviting Him to be your Partner in all you do, then establishing a time of prayer and reading God's Word every day as spiritual food for your Christian experience!

There are also reasons why God's blessing is not consistent in some Christians' lives. They may feel they have experienced wasted years too. They may feel that all their prayers did not develop into a growing experience with the Lord as they longed for! It could mean there was a hindrance somewhere that prevented them from having an assurance that their prayer life was what it should be. One hindrance could be that they made all decisions and choices in life without inquiring from the Lord what His plan was for them. If this identifies you and you feel that God's blessing is void in your life, perhaps He has allowed you to go your own way until you asked for Him to direct your way and your choices. Where God guides, He provides!

God desires to lead all believers to His best in all things pertaining to their lives and families; in finding the best job you are most qualified for, which home or car to buy, which person to marry and even which church to become involved in where you will learn to know the Lord, best. When we walk with Him, He walks with us. His blessings overflow daily in all we do, and there are no wasted years!

How wonderful to know when we feel a need for a special touch from the Lord at any time, He reminds us in His Word: "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)

(If any of the blogs have been a blessing to you, I would appreciate receiving an email from you or a "comment" following the blog.) God bless you!