The Wasted Years.

I think a lot of us can sit and allow our minds to ponder over our years of life decisions and experiences. As christians, we know that God has his hand on us and our loved ones. I myself like to sit and think of the many churches, projects and people that  have been involved with over the years.

For a long period of time I was not in the right frame of mind to be of any real use to our churches. But I let things rest, and left these things in God’s hands. And now, things have changed again. A renewed church attendance, of sorts, and a renewed interest in my Bible studies. This latter one has been the biggest step forward for me personally.

I preacher that I was listening to online recently was talking about the book of the Prophet Joel. Not much is know about this prophet but it is believed that he lived sometime between 500BC and 900 BC. But the preacher did dwell on one verse that started me off on my own train of thought…

Joel 2 (25)And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. 

The preacher dwelled on that phrase “I will restore to you the years” but was at pains to stress that this does not mean about us all becoming young again. The preacher was making the point that in our later years, as we sit and ponder, that a lot of the things that we were previously involved in could start to come together again. We might start to see all those projects that we were once involved in and how their latest results have panned out.

I sit and remember about the little individual ministries that people started up, many years ago. Coffee groups. Letter writing groups. Singing groups. Groups that wrote and distributed Gospel Tracts. Door to door witnessing. And I remember the people who were involved in them all.

Some are no longer with us now. Some have left their churches and moved on with their lives. But others are living their lives still for God. The little gospel tracts are still being handed out. The little gospel street musicians are sometimes still singing away. And some of them are starting to see results for their labour.

Then we have sometimes chased goals in our lives which did not lead to any success. But these journeys were not about our successes. These journeys were about who we would meet along the way, and God’s will imparted to them. Consider Naomi returning from Moab. God’s plan with the  sequence of events was not about Naomi living in Moab, it was about getting Ruth into Israel so that she could be introduced to Boaz and marry him.

God uses our pain and gives it a purpose…

Romans 8 (28)And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 

Sometimes the weights of our past can come back to our memories and weigh us down. But don’t allow these weights to become heavy on us. ..

In the Old Testament we read about King David’s adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband, Urriah. Then in 2nd Samuel Ch12 v1-14 we read of how the prophet Nathan challenge to David about these events. However, at the end of the conversation David had realised the error of his ways…

2nd Samuel Ch12 (13)So David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 

Psalm 51 was written by David in response to Nathan’s challenge surrounding Bathsheba and her husband, Urriah.

Psalm 51 (10)Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. (11)Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. (12)Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

Indeed, Jehovah made covenants with many of the ancient Fathers of His people - Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David – promising to be their God and restore them when they strayed.

However. These musings and reminiscings are not always plain sailing. Sometimes, they are God’s way of  giving us an opportuinty to have a rethink about things and people we have known over the years. And God sometimes challenges us on these thoughts and ideas. And you can be sure of one thing – When God’s challenge comes it will stop you dead in your tracks. It will be sudden. It will be epiphanous. And it will leave you in no doubt that some things need to change.

But David’s Psalm gives us the assurance that we can let go of our past regrets and our fears. We can embrace the future with confidence. And God, in His own time, not only restores our Joy  but also renews our Hope. Our years that time has eaten away can still have some fruition and meaning. Once again we start to see possibilites instead of only obstacles. And we begin to believe that maybe God hasn’t really finished with us yet.

This renewal of spiritual energy will start to convince us the life can have a new meaning and purpose. There are still things that we can do.

Psalm Ch30 (11)You have turned for me my sorrowing into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness. (12)To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever. 

Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me
Create in me a clean heart, oh God
And renew a right spirit within me

Cast me not away from Thy presence, oh Lord
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation
And renew a right spirit within me

Psalm 51 (Paraphrased).

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