IT'S TIME

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Ephesians 5:15-17

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Whenever I think of a talent someone has, I think of people who can draw well, sing well, play sports well, play violin well, teach well, influence well, etc. But this evening I read something that got me thinking about something else that might fall under the heading of "talent".

Charles Spurgeon, in his book Morning and Evening Devotions, wrote this: "If you have talents keep not back from using them. Hoard not your wealth, waste not your time; let not your abilities or your influence be unused."

Wealth, abilities, and influence all seemed to me like talents, but the phrase "waste not your time" really seemed to me to be the odd one out. Is time a talent?? Sure, it's a commodity, and there never seems to be enough of it at times...but what about the seasons in life when I DO have some time on my hands? What about when I get a little bored and browse Youtube? Or when there's so much to do that I really don't feel like doing anything at all? Maybe time IS a talent--a part of your faculty just as much as, say, an ability to play a musical instrument.

Waste not your time.

Ever since high-school, it seems I've been waiting for time to pass. We're all waiting. Jamie Grace wrote, "What will it look like? What will it be like? When my life turns out like You've planned." (from the song The Waiting by Jamie Grace) And that's how I used to think all the time. Like I was just biding my time until it happened. When God finally put all the pieces together and I realized what I am supposed to be doing with my life and I'd literally be set for the rest of my life doing something forever. That's what I thought.

But when I focus on what's next rather than on what's now, I think I'm missing the point. I think I'm actually wasting my time. I think God's plan isn't sometime in the future for us; I think it's now. I once read (sorry, I don't know where!) that for God, the end of the journey isn't the end. The end is the journey itself.

The journey is now, and it's just as much a part of God's plan as the end result. There's a great deal of work to be done here and now in your very own house as there is in other mission fields. We waste our time when we think that "someday" we'll enter into God's plan, disregarding today and the moments leading up to a breakthrough. It's as if you were a little kid who said, "Someday, I'll wear a size 8 pair of shoes" but until then, you don't wear any shoes at all. Or "Someday, my baby will be potty trained, so until she is, I'm going to wait and not change any of her diapers." I think we all know how absurd that reasoning is, but don't we do that with God?

Waste not your time.

Friends, today is so important! Don't waste it saying, "I may as well not pick up the living room; it's only going to get messy again." or "There's no purpose yet; I think I'll sleep in today." or "It's somewhere, vague, in the future, but I know that someday God will reveal His plan to me for my life."

No! Today is God's plan for your life! If you feel no real purpose in today, ask God to show you what HIS purpose for today is. Then ask Him how you can enter into it. Maybe there's a friend you can be praying for throughout the day. Maybe you can help a younger sibling with school. Maybe you can wash the dishes that won't ever make it from the drainboard to the cupboard before being used again. It may be God's calling you to a life of doing things that rapidly become undone, but that's okay.

Do you have trouble seeing your purpose or talent? Re-evaluate. Maybe we should be regarding time as something more than slipping by. God's given us each time, although we don't know how much. It's up to us to grasp it. To be awake, to be alive...so let's not waste it!

Blessings & love,
Georgie Grace

(and again, photo credits to my talented friend Sam! ☺)