A Lesson on Time

In my life, I don’t have any real enemies, but if there is one intangible thing that I always seem to be fighting against, it’s TIME. It robs me when I need him most. It turns little cares into big concerns when it hurries on and I still have no answer. Every tick-tick it takes me one step closer to “never getting all this done.”

I remember a time in my life when TIME was particularly frustrating. TIME ticked away on a house that we really needed to sell. TIME meant money, as we paid a house payment for an empty house. It meant being unsettled, because over half of our stuff was in storage as we rented in our new location.

Of course, even though I’d like to place a dark cape and a mask on TIME, that’s not where the problem is. TIME … and the ticking down of it … isn’t something I need to fight against. Instead, as God’s been revealing to me lately, TIME is a tool in His hand that is used to reveal what is really in my heart. Mostly, misplaced security.

Time is a tool in His hand that is used to reveal what is really in my heart @TriciaGoyer

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I remember being frustrated because our house hadn’t sold in the TIME I wanted it to, and God showed me my lack of trust in Him … and my dependance on things of this world. He showed me that I look to home ownership as success and security. He pointed out my false heart-belief that when we bought a new home in our new location, only then we’d “arrived.”

God opened my eyes to this by leading me to Psalm 30:15. “My times are in your hands,” David said. God is in control of TIME. Of all the events that seem to take way too long. I needed to hear that.

Some lessons can only be learned over time … and discovering the truth what is in my heart is one of them. If our house had sold right away, and we’d moved into a nice place in our new city, I never would have realized how much trust I’m placing in things more than God.

God has also reminded me lately that He lives outside of TIME. What seems to take forever I my eyes is just a blink of an eye to Him. TIME may feels like it’s throwing me punches, but instead it’s a tool that God’s using to mold and shape me.

So even though the clock is still ticking, I’m realizing more and more that God can be trusted all TIMES. He’s my security. And TIME isn’t an enemy when its in God’s hands. TIME is a tool.

Lord, mold me through the tick, tick, tock.

Time is not the enemy. God uses it to mold and shape us! @TriciaGoyer

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Steps You Can Take

When you catch yourself getting inpatient, ask yourself “Why?”
Pinpoint what is at the root of your frustration with time. Is it money, the unknown, insecurity, lack of faith?
Surrender your requests to God, knowing he is in control of time.
Wait patiently for God’s time, remembering to look for what God is teaching you.

Daily Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father,

I like to be in control and know what is going to happen next. Help me release that control to you and trust your perfect timing. May I catch myself in those moments when I start whining and complaining when it comes to waiting. Instead, help me take a deeper look at what you are teaching me. Continue to mold me and shape me into the person you made me to be … no matter how long that takes!

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Resources You Might Like:

God Had a Plan for Your Life: The Discovery that Makes All the Difference by Charles F. Stanley
Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn’t Show Up the Way You Thought He Would? by Pete Wilson

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Living Inspired ~ Thursday 3CT (10/17/13)

To listen to the interview: go here and click on the player in the upper right corner of the screen.

This week on Living Inspired, please welcome Peyton Jones, author of book Church Zero (David C. Cook, 2013) and Ginger Ciminello, author of book Forget the Corsage (Westbow Press, 2013).

If you’re reading this after 10/17/13 you’ll be able to find this show . . . and all my shows in the archive section.

For your chance to win a copy of Peyton’s Church Zero or Ginger’s Forget the Corsage leave a comment below. Winner will be announced on Friday on the winner page.

Due to shipping cost, giveaway open to US residents only

More about Peyton: Peyton Jones is founding coach of New Breed Church Planting UK/USA. A serial church planter, Jones is currently planting multiple churches stateside starting in urban Long Beach, California. Involved in international planting since age 24, he’s engaged in tentmaking mission work as a firefighter, factory worker, and psychiatric nurse, bringing all of these experiences to the table. Jones received his MA Theology Pastoral Studies from Wales Evangelical School of Theology and served as the evangelist for Lloyd-Jones’s legendary Sandfields church, Aberavon.

Connect with Peyton: Twitter Website

More about Church Zero: A radical call to reform, Church Zero is a punk-rock approach to the pressing issue of gaining ground as rapidly as the early church.

With a fresh perspective forged in the dirty trenches of international post-Christian societies, Peyton Jones pulls no punches as he brings this message to the American Church: We have lost our way.

The church is losing ground fast: losing the generation under age 30 and drawing few nonbelievers toward Christ.

Christ gave us a leadership model for commando outreach, and the church has ignored it for too long. Will we continue down the path of self-preservation, defending our stalled church structures? Or will we follow the blueprint Jesus lays out?

Church Zero challenges readers to once again become a radical, dangerous people who cannot be ignored. It’s time to break out!

Purchase your copy here.

More about Ginger: Texas-born Ginger Ciminello is a passionate writer and speaker who communicates through story-telling and dramatic narrative. Her awkward middle school phase lasted almost ten years, allowing her to connect with students in a humorous and personal way. Ginger holds a deep desire to reach her audiences and encourage them to laugh, learn from her mistakes, and look up to the Father. Her own story contains embarrassing moments, a two-year bout with an eating disorder, being abandoned at the prom, and finally finding contentment in knowing whom God has made her to be. In September of 2013 she released her first book, Forget the Corsage. Ginger holds a bachelor’s degree in theatre ministry from Abilene Christian University and has over ten years of speaking experience at various churches, camps, and educational groups. She worked for six years in camping ministry with Pine Cove Christian Camps in Tyler, Texas before making her way to the desert of Arizona. Ginger is currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her eHarmony matched husband, David, and their daughter. Ginger writes a weekly blog to continue the conversations that start every time she walks into an auditorium, classroom, or sanctuary.

Connect with Ginger: Twitter Website Facebook

The story behind Forget the Corsage: July 13th I delivered my firstborn daughter. She was exactly one week past her due date, but God’s timing was of course, perfect. Everyone is right. This is the hardest yet most joy-inducing adventure of my life. Norah was the first labor of the summer. Forget the Corsage was the second. I’ve been working on a manuscript for almost three years. Who knew it would take so long? I’ve been thinking about writing a book since I was maybe 23 years old. I’ve always known it would be addressed to young women, a sort of spiritual memoir, and a way to greater connect with the audiences that I speak to. The title comes from my unique prom story. I lived my entire high school journey in expectation of my senior prom. I had the dress, the heels, and the perfect hair but I didn’t have the date. At the last-minute, I recruited a friend to accompany me. He was to pick me up at the house, escort me to dinner, and drive me to the dance. He was supposed to bring me a corsage. Instead my date arrived to the dance after 10:30pm. (He had a good reason.) He rushed in to find me standing at the bottom of the escalator that had already delivered my entire senior class to their “Night to Remember.” (I did not have a good reason.) I had waited by myself for over an hour because I was convinced that I couldn’t enter the dance until I had my date and my corsage. I danced to only three songs that night and spent most of my prom thinking, “No one will ever want me.” Since that time God has laid those words heavily upon my heart. If I truly am a daughter of the King, then I know the response to my own lament. Not only does Christ want me, but also He has given me an abundant and exciting life. His love provides the courage to live adventurously regardless of any dating status. Forget the Corsage is a reminder to stop waiting for life to happen to us, but instead to go and live life to the full right now. It can be tempting to buy into the lie that real living starts when we graduate, get the perfect body, find Mr. Right, and land our dream job. But the truth is that we are waiting for something that has already been given to us from God: life to the full. The target audience of this little book is young women. Each chapter begins with a letter to myself at different stages of my life. “Dear fifteen year old Ginger …” “Dear eighteen year old Ginger …” “Dear twenty-seven year old Ginger …” (You get the idea.) The letters span from 12 years of age until 27. That’s about the target. If I could go back in time and give myself a pep talk or kick in the pants, this book is what I would say. So which labor was harder? Giving birth to Norah was definitely quicker! I don’t know. It’s going to be a while before I consider repeating either again, but I am so, so proud of both. And lest you think this was just one delightful day after another, let me tell you that more tears have been shed from May through September than you can imagine. My husband gets the Red Badge of Courage, the Purple Heart, and THE BEST OF ALL THE THINGS EVER Award for going through these two labors with me. Really, who decides to do both of these things at the same time? If nothing else, I’ve learned to let my friends and family see my tears. I am REALLY getting good at apologizing, and slightly better at asking for help.