To obey God IN TIME often means that we find ourselves separated unto God and away from anything comfortable or familiar. That is true for us. How about you? I not only find myself in a strange place but I find something strange about myself in a strange place - how I respond and how I feel and what I do and who I meet. I find myself again in time in a new way when I am positioned somewhere that I am not totally familiar with in my life. That is often exciting but some days it can be tiring so I have to lean into all of God's strength and none of my own.
Again I want to say that what I miss being here in this time in my placement and not being somewhere else, can't be made up so I have to trust God that in obedience to Him, something greater is happening in my life. I can't often see it but I have to trust that when we obey God in time, there are many things happening that are bearing eternal fruit. For instance, here is one simple example. If I am separated from my kids and it is God's will for me to be here, perhaps ( and I am saying this with a full smile) it is because they need to learn to trust God for themselves in some way. I am, perhaps that hindrance when I place myself in time my own way or through guilt, or loneliness or some such thing. There is a cost to obedience to be stripped from the familiar and out of my control to simply trust Him. Make sense? I hope so.
Moving out in time in our own desires, in our own thoughts or perhaps even through guilt or loneliness that drives us is basically time that can be what we want, but not what God wants for us. Marvin and I have seen that God asks us to give our life and our time to Him. We place our lives, our desires, and our time in His hands and trust. There is a safety in God. Even when we don't understand why or how or what - we know that His ways are perfect and all things work for good for those called according to His purpose.
Life is lived in time. Life is lived in the fullness of His time and His way or our time and our way. I have found it is best to go the way God wants us to go. That is why I find myself in Finland right now. Would it have been my choice? Probably not but it is God's choice for me in time. And His desires are my desires forming day by day because there are many days that I love it here alongside many days that I miss Cali. :)
So where are you in all of this as you read this? When you are positioned in God's timing in His placement, there is peace even though there may be chaos all around you. That is where trust is required. When things on the home front may not be going well, we trust. When things around us are not going as we thought where we are, we trust. Simply stated, we trust God with our time in our lives. Step out in God's path for you even though it may call you to a separation from things that are familiar and comfortable. In God's light there is fullness of joy.
So how to sum this up to encourage you to focus on the Lord alone. When you are IN TIME in God's way and will for you, even though you may not understand it, your emotions may be running wild, and you feel chaos is stirring around you, it's okay. Speak peace to the storm and keep stepping out of the boat following Him. Don't look back and regret things that could have or should have been. The path in time in front of you is a great adventure. Don't feel guilty about all the things you did wrong. That is what the cross is for so stop carrying the burden yourself. Leave it all behind, no matter what age, what gender, what culture. You have this moment in this time......make the most of it and enjoy the journey.
Focusing on time as God gave me a revelation of my own life regarding this subject. I had heard this subject dealt with so many times in messages, prophecies and such but now it is real to me. Read on for the next few days okay and follow my thoughts and I know you will be blessed.
Finland is a struggle to me some days. Culturally it is so different from California. Yet I know God has called us here and never has released us from that call so I obey Him. My struggle is not necessarily always about Finland for I do love it. My struggle is about time, finding meaning in being in Finland, and where we are going in all of this. Time moves on minute by minute, day by day, year by year for each of us. Once it goes, you can't get it back. With that said, it is so important to be in the right place at the right time, doing what God has called you to do, and perfectly positioned in Him. In that, time takes on new eternal meaning even when the days get hard.
As I sat, a bit disturbed yesterday by my surroundings, I found myself speaking to God about it. I said "God, I don't always know where we are going in this and time is moving on. For each minute that passes by, I miss time with my children, my grandchildren, being in a state I love and so much more God. I see time passing me by in Finland and I am losing time that will never be made up for with family that I love and grandchildren that I love. I am not complaining God but please speak to me about this whole situation."
I knew, deep inside, that as I was speaking to God that the most precious commodity on the face of the earth regarding your life is TIME - where you are, what you are doing, who you are with. Is time in your life sanctified by God used for His purpose? For if it is, then it holds creative eternal value. The cares and concerns I have are not that important because God weaves the importance of time in this life so it holds eternal value not only for me but for those in my family, those I meet and so much more. In other words, when I obey God in time, the ramifications of that obedience, even though it may appear to be hard some days, bear an eternal weight of glory and bring pleasure to the Lord. This is all a deep profound paragraph of words but if you follow this and read, you will eventually get what I am saying.
To obey God in time, right here in the earth realm, is very important to me. There are many time bandits that steal my time. There are many days where I feel I waste time. There are days when I feel time is slipping away and at this age, I should have achieved more, done more, had a bigger ministry, made more money and the list goes on and on and on. There are days where time flies and days where time drags by. It all started me to question God about me being in the right time and the right place so things can start to make sense. LIke "Why am I here when my children are so far away? Why am I missing the day to day events in their life? Why am I missing the jokes? The Laughter. The fun. Why?" I am not afraid to ask those questions because I know, deep in my heart, that I have a Father in heaven who absolutely adores me and thinks I am awesome in every way, good days and bad.
There appeared to be a rising tension in me that God had to give a greater revelation of my purpose in this time I find myself in, right here and right now. Why? Because to me, my place in time right now simply does not make sense. Maybe some of you have it all together (she says with smile and laughter) but I don't. I want to serve God and love on Him with all of my heart but there are days when ministry is tough and people are outrageously selfish. Those are days I question God so as to get answers that give new meaning to my life.
Are you intrigued so far? I hope so. More coming tomorrow so read on. I leave you with grace and with a smile.
