On God's Time

    "When you entered into solemn covenant with the Lord, you consecrated your whole life to his service. Your time, then, is not your own, but the Lord's. If you waste it, or spend it unprofitably, you rob God... 
      
   Suppose you waste only ten minutes at a time, six times in a day; this will make an hour. This hour is subtracted from that portion of your time which might have been devoted to active employments. Sleeping, refreshment, and personal duties, generally occupy at least one half of the twenty-four hours. You have then lost one twelfth part of the available portion of the day.

    Suppose, then,you live to the age of seventy years. Take from this the first ten years of your life. From the sixty remaining, you will have thrown away five years! These five years are taken from that portion of your time which should have been employed in the cultivation of your mind, and in the practical duties of religion. For, the common excuse for neglecting the improvement of the mind, and the cultivation of personal piety, is want of time. 

   Now, if you employ one half of this time in reading, at the rate of twenty pages an hour, you will be able to read more than eighteen thousand pages; or sixty volumes of three hundred pages each. If you employ the other half in devotional exercises in your closet, in addition to the time you would spend in this manner, upon the supposition that these five years are lost, what an influence will it have upon the health of your soul? Or, if you spend the whole of it in the active duties of Christian benevolence, how much good can you accomplish?


   Think what you might do by employing five years in the undivided service of your Master."


                                               -  excerpt from "A Young Ladies Guide" by Harvey Newcomb



*This is from an excellent book, written in the 1800's for the authors sister. I highly recommend it for any young lady seeking to grow in her walk with the Lord, or wondering how to His word applies practically to everyday life. 

A Daily Rate

                                                             Then He said to them all, 
                                                     "If anyone desires to come after Me, 
                                                                let him deny himself, 
                                                          and take up his cross daily,
                                                                   and follow Me.

                                                                     -  Luke 9:23

  

   I have been learning this lesson the hard way, since the last time that I blogged. This verse has been in my head for as long as I can remember, but only recently has the message made it to my heart. Or, it is starting to at least; I'm still a long way from it being planted there.

   I like to have things decided, and done, and clearly communicated. I like to make a final decision, and stick to it. What I do not like, is having to make that decision every single day. It leaves too much room for error, and forgetfulness, both of which do not set well with me.

   However, as I have been discovering, this is the pattern of the Christian life. Going out on a limb. Becoming vulnerable. And ultimately accepting grace one day at a time.

   In chapter 24 of 2 Kings, there is recorded the story of a young King Jehoiachin, of Judah. Because he is wicked in the sight of God, he is captured by the Babylonians. The chapter continues with the story of another king, and no more is said about Jehoiachin until the very end of the book, where it says:

And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the capture

of Jehoiachin king of Judah...

that Evil-merodach king of Babylon... 

did lift up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah 

out of prison.

And he spake kindly to him,

and set his throne above the throne of the kings

that were with him in Babylon;

And changed his prison garments:

and he did eat bread continually before him

all the days of his life.

And his allowance was a continual allowance

 given him of the king,

a daily rate for every day, 

all the days of his life.

-2 Kings 27-30

    I think that this story is a beautiful picture of what happens when we are saved! Christ comes into our lives, and "lifts up our heads out of prison". He replaces our prison garments with white robes, invites us to eat at His table, and gives us an allowance of grace for each day as it comes. 

   I especially love the part about the 'daily rate'. He doesn't give us all the grace that we will ever need all at once, for I'm sure He knows that, like the prodigal son, we would take it and run*. But He gives it to us daily, as we need it, that we may learn day after day, to surrender ourselves to our King, and walk in sweet fellowship with Him.

*I would like to note that the grace I mean here, is not the grace that saves. That grace is all that we need for all of eternity. In this post I am speaking of the grace to resist temptation, and love God, and live every day for His glory.*

Loving Guardian

   Have you ever been in a dark place in life, where it felt like God had abandoned you? Or are you perhaps in a place like that right now? Well, God has recorded a story for us in Genesis, about a woman who felt exactly the same way.

   Her name is Hagar, and she is a handmaiden to Sarai, the wife of Abram, to whom God has promised a son. However, Sarai is old, really old, and has not been able to have children, even when she was young! So, Hagar's mistress, Sarai, decides to give Hagar to Abram as another wife, hoping that perhaps God will give him a son, through this younger woman.

   Guess what? It works! Hagar soon finds out that she is going to have a child, the child that Sarai was never able to have, and she gets pretty cocky about it. You see, in that time, it was a disgrace not to be able to bear children, so since Hagar could, she thought that she would rub it in a little. (Okay, probably alot!)

    As I'm sure you can understand, this makes Sarai very upset, and she ends up driving Hagar into the desert, where Hagar finds herself alone, by a spring of water. This is also, where God finds her. Here is what happens next:

Now the Angel of the Lord found her

by a spring of water in the wilderness,

by a spring of water on the way to Shur.

And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, 

where have you come from, 

and where are you going?" She said,

"I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai"

The Angel of the Lord said to her,

"Return to your mistress, and submit

yourself under her hand."

Then the Angel of the Lord said to her,

"I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, 

so that they shall not be counted for multitude."

And the Angel of the Lord said to her:

"Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son.

You shall call his name Ishmael, 

because the LORD has heard your affliction.

He shall be a wild man;

His hand shall be against every man, 

and every man's hand against him.

And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."

Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her,

You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees

   -Genesis 16:7-13a

  Right here, in Genesis 16:13, is the first place that we see today's name of God: El-Roi, which means "The God Who Sees". In the midst of Hagar's darkness, in the midst of her despair, God saw, and brought instruction and a promise to her. 

   I love how is says that God found her. Now, I don't know how that word is supposed to read in the original text, but in English, it brings to mind, the Truth that the Lord is our shepherd, and He seeks out His sheep. 

   I also think it's interesting, that it is partially Hagar's fault that she is out here in the desert. It was Hagar, after all, who turned up her nose at Sarai, and despised her mistress. But just as that didn't stop God from seeking her out, and comforting and instructing her; when we belong to God, our sins don't keep Him from seeking to draw us nearer to Himself. Yes, we may find ourselves in the desert for awhile, seeking a spring that will not satisfy, but God will never give up on us!!!

   Alright, back to my main point! hehe!!! 

  God not only sees us in the desert, He also sees:

1. Our need. Matthew 6:8 says that our Father knows what we have need of, even before we ask! 
2. Our hurt. Psalm 56:8 says that God keeps count of our tossing's, and puts our tears into a bottle! How mind-blowing is that?!?!?!?
3. Our sin.  Proverbs 15:3 says that the eyes of God are in every place, watching the evil and the good; and Psalm 90:8 goes even farther, by saying that our secret sins, are spread out before God! Oops! This one is definitely more uncomfortable, isn't it?
4. Our heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 says that while man looks on the outward appearance, God looks at the heart. This one could go either way. It could be good, if we are like David, or it could be not so good, if we are more like his brothers! 

   I hope that this post, has encouraged you in your walk with God, and perhaps given you a healthy dose of the fear of the Lord! :) I would love for you girls to share some other ways that God sees us, or perhaps, how it makes you feel to know that God is always watching over you! ( Secure, convicted, safe...) I hope that you all have a beautiful day, of drawing nearer to our precious Lord and Savior!!!