Aside from stirred up allergies, Spring is a great time of the year. Today is the official day.
Only the wisdom of God could have set the season in order, and the cycles of life to work as they do. What a Great and Mighty God!
Several years ago, I heard James Dobson on radio saying that he had once bought a gym set for his child. It came in a thousand pieces with a thick booklet of instructions. He started early on Saturday morning and worked all day long, and as he was finishing it up one afternoon the following week, he realized he didn’t own a gym set, but the gym set had owned him. I’ve had things in my life like that. Maybe some big project around the house that takes much longer than anticipated.
The good thing about that gym set, and the projects that I have been overwhelmed by, is that they were finally finished. I’ve seen people, on the other hand, who allowed their hobbies, jobs, bank accounts, or some other thing in their life, to have them instead of the other way around.
There is a time for everything under the sun, just make sure you’ve got it in its proper perspective.
A mom brought her teenaged son to see me, after he had been temporarily expelled from school because of his bad behavior. Counseling teenagers is often the most difficult of all the counseling tasks. Those guys can just sit there, never look at you, never really answer a question, just shrug their shoulders and grunt every now and then. This young man was like that. He didn’t want to be there, and he was determined that he wasn’t going to contribute in any way.
Finally, I asked him, “Are you just determined that you are not going to let me talk with you?” His answer was the same, he shrugged his shoulders. Before he left I said, “Son, here’s something I want you to think about: you have to decide what kind of man you are going to be. Nobody else can decide that for you. I would encourage you to look at some men, who are at least 30 years old, and see which ones you admire. When you have done that, ask yourself how you think they got there? Did they just wake up one day, and that’s who they were, or did they become who they are through day by day living? People go in the direction they choose to travel. Ask yourself which direction you are traveling? Determine who you want to be and aim your life in that direction.”
Every person should desire to reach the full potential of their identity. God has made each person unique, and God has a plan for individual. What is your identity? What do others think when they hear your name?
I’m not sure if it’s a great time to buy a house, or if it’s a terrible time. It depends on the direction you are listening. Whether it’s a good time, or a bad time, we have just bought one and are in the final stages of moving.
Up to this point, we haven’t thrown away much, but now we’ve come to the point that we have to make some decisions. They say if you haven’t used it in two years, you don’t need it, but I’m not so sure. Twenty years ago, I bought a snow sled, and have stored it for all that time, waiting on a decent snow. A few weeks ago, we awoke to a couple of inches of snow, and I dug out that sled. The snow was so powdery that it really didn’t work all that well, but it made me think there is value in holding on to some things. Evenso, this week will be a week of getting rid of some stuff, painful though it may be.
There are always things in our life that need to be treasured and held on to at all cost, but there are other things that really need to be discarded. How wise is the person who regularly takes inventory of what he is doing, how is thinking, the things he is saying, and he makes the necessary adjustments to cause his life to be more effective and productive. In the matter of moving, I’ve got to decide, but in the matter of my life, the Holy Spirit will guide me, if I will only listen.
The prophet Jonah was called to go and preach to the people in Ninevah, but he didn’t want to go, so he boarded a ship for Tarshish. When God tells you to go to Ninevah, there will always be a ship ready to take you Tarshish. The devil will see to it.
The ship to Tarshish is the opportinity that arises for you to do what you want to do, rather than what God wants you do. It is running from God, instead of running to God.
Jonah found out that the ship to Tarshish wasn’t such a good deal after all. Multiutude have learned that same lesson, and people continue to learn it. If God is leading you in a certain direction, then all of a sudden, what looks like a great opportunity opens up for you, make sure it’s not just a ship to Tarshish. There’s no blessing on the way to Tarshish, only storms. If you’ve been called to go Ninevah, don’t let anything keep you from it.