During the Secular Fast I asked myself 3 very important questions in regards to the things I would consume for my mind, soul, and spirit, which also pertained to how I was going to invest my time. How we invest our time goes hand-in-hand with what we consume for our entire being. Recall the picture on the 40 Day Secular Fast Post with the clock made out of spoons and forks.
I must tell ya that when the Lord gave me the idea of The Secular Fast, I was filled with Passion & Purpose, but I was so not Prepared. I have never done anything like this before. Nothing even close to this. Just like when the Lord gave me the vision for Women of Worth on March 16th of last year, I was so very honored, but felt so very unqualified. Surely there is someone more qualified than I. The Lord continues to bring wonderful men & women in my life that inspire, encourage, and empower me to move forward in my calling, and not to put the Holy Spirit on hold. I walk forward in this journey filled with New Adventures not in confidence, but in obedience, and assurance that the Lord will provide.
There is nothing like taking a Supernatural Journey with Jesus! Only with Christ can we explore uncharted territory, and reach new heights without even leaving our home.
The first discerning question I asked before I invested my time & consumed a certain thing for my mind, soul, and spirit, Does this go against GOD in any way? If yes, it was rejected, and I would not consume it. There was once a time in my life where I would tolerate people, and things that went against GOD, due to other's freedom of expression, no matter how much I disagreed with their feelings, thoughts, beliefs, etc. What I have come to realize is that while they have the freedom to express themselves, I have the freedom to not have to hear it, or be around it.
Things that go directly against GOD, cause us to compromise what the Lord has taught us, and one compromise leads to another, and we wonder how did things go so wrong? Things that glorify the enemy are things that disgust & repulse me, so it is not hard to reject & refuse to be apart of such things anymore. I know that things of the enemy are toxic, and are meant to destroy, so they are not tempting when I can identify their source.
If there was any doubt, I asked myself what if the Lord was here with me would I watch this, listen to this, read this, or participate in this? Some things are very deceptive, they appear to be harmless, they start off okay, then it quickly, or gradually turns into something terrible, and it is eventually revealed that it is not what it once appeared to be. In the past, I would tell myself to wait it out. I am already invested this far, so let's just see how it all turns out. Maybe there will be some redeeming quality to this. The thing is, I always regretted that I kept with it when I should have walked away the minute it went wrong. The enemy deceives, and sets traps, but we must realize that we have The Power to Walk Away. The Power of the Walk Away is Wonderful. As soon as something is not right, simply leave, walk away, stop watching, stop listening, stop reading, stop participating, shut down the enemy's power to contaminate, and waste your time.
The second question was, Does this benefit my life? If something is not a benefit, an additional support, or change my life in a positive direction, than it is a waste of time. We could rephrase this by asking, Is this Spiritually Profitable? Our time is very precious, and we should invest it wisely. We could also ask ourselves, What kind of return will I get if I invest my time in this?
This brings me to the third question, and pertains to planning out where, when, and how we are to invest our time with purpose. Just as a Business Person plans where, how much, and how long s/he will invest his/her money, or a farmer plans out what s/he will plant this season, so should we have a purposeful plan on exactly where to invest our time. What are the things we should focus our attention on during a given season of our life? There are so many great choices to select from, How do we know which is right for us? All the choices might be Righteous, but they are not right for us right now. For example, when I was a Baby Christian, my first visit to a Christian Store was very memorable. So many great choices to choose from with a variety of different topics, and different authors. The Christian Store was like a Spiritual Grocery Store where I went around filling up my basket, with all sorts of goodies. I went home and discovered I had so many fantastic books, and I began to read them all. Now you might think this was a good thing, but it was not.
There was so much wonderful information that it became overwhelming. I imagine this must be what it is like for the college freshmen that is undeclared. Before starting college I knew I wanted to major in psychology. Before I moved into the dorms, I knew what General Education classes I had to take, and the Psychology Classes that I was going to take based on my concentration in a specific area of psychology. There is a reason that colleges encourage students to limit themselves to a certain amount of classes during a certain duration of time, and that is so they can concentrate on learning the new information, not just obtaining it, but more importantly maintaining it, and have the benefit of applied knowledge later on in life. Students who take more than the recommended full-time amount of classes don't really enjoy the process, they are just getting through to reach a certain goal, graduation. But have they truly obtained what they need, or are they lacking, ill equipped, because they rushed it? Quickly In, Quickly Out.
Colleges provide their students with Counselors and Mentors to help direct each student based on their talents, interests, needs, and long-term goals. Isn't Awesome that the Holy Spirit is a Wonderful Counselor that knows exactly what we need when we need it? It is not possible to have it all, all at once. Sure we can try, and in the process of trying to do it all, we could lose it all. Life is a Journey, a Process, a Progression. All In Due Season.
Praise Jesus Christ that in His Holy Spirit's Job Description includes Investment Expert & Time Manager. We are to first seek the Lord in where, and how, and for how long we are to invest our time for each given season. We are to balance our time wisely through diverse disbursements. Time just with GOD, time for family, friends, fellowship, discipleship, and outreach across town and/or across the world. We have to safeguard our priorities, and sanctify our time with our love ones.
Before the next Quarter, Semester, or Season of Life begins seek the Lord's Counsel, and Divine Direction, for His foresight reaches far beyond our own. GOD knows what is coming up next, so He is the One we should look to for preparing us for what we will need in the next season.
Therefore, the third question we can ask ourselves when investing our time would be, Does this line up with the course work GOD has for me for this season of life? Does this support my area of concentration? For example, let's say that the Lord has said to invest more time in your marriage, and a woman's retreat is coming up. Sounds like a great opportunity to spend some time with the Sisters, there is going to be a fantastic speaker with an interesting topic, the location sounds wonderful, and you really feel like getting away for the weekend. Thing is the Lord has said to focus on the marriage. Of course our natural response is, can't I do both? My marriage is doing okay, in fact it is pretty good. What did the Lord say to focus on? This is the season that the Lord wants to grow your marriage from good to great.
You know what I have discovered is that everything in life comes back to two things, Trust & Obeying the Lord. That it is okay to not understand what the Lord has planned, but to know that it all works out for our good. The Greatest Lesson we can learn is from Christ's example when He spoke to His Holy Parent and said, "Not My Will, But Your Will Be Done."
Our Greatest Blessings in life are a result from obeying the Lord, and our worst mistakes come from disobeying the Lord.
I praise You Lord that You are the Greatest Guidance Counselor whose office hours are open 24/7 just in case we get confused, disoriented, and lost, You are always there to help us find the way. I love You Lord.
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