Wasted Time

Numbering Our Days

Psalm 90:12 CSB

Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.

Scripture is clear on this. We are to think on and meditate on the fact that we don’t have an infinite amount of time. And in the time we are given, we are to use it to make Godly choices. There are many other scriptures that speak to this eternal truth. Such as:

Ephesians 5:15–17 CSB

Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

John 9:4 CSB

We must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work.

We don’t have as much time as we think we have. The truth is we don’t know how much time we have. Matthew 25:13

Matthew 25:13 CSB

“Therefore be alert, because you don’t know either the day or the hour.

What is it that makes us think we have time? What is it that makes us neglect the things of God and what He is calling us to do? The fact is that He has given all of us an assignment and has given us the grace to carry it out, but we for whatever reason don’t always move in God’s time. We want to take our own time. And this is something that I’ve dealt with for a while. I believe there are a few reasons why we don’t fall in line with the will of God for our lives. Fear, doubt, and a lack of understanding.

Fear Keeps Us Bound

Psalm 55:4–5 CSB

My heart shudders within me; terrors of death sweep over me. Fear and trembling grip me; horror has overwhelmed me.

This past week at church during the Young Adult service, we were studying the Parable of the Talents. This was one of the parables Jesus gave before being betrayed. He is giving a picture of the last days. A picture of what it is going to be like at His return. Matthew 25:14-30

Matthew 25:14–30 CSB

“For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey. Immediately the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. In the same way the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. “After a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents approached, presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned. “ ‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have more than enough. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. And throw this good-for-nothing servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

We can see that this is a clear picture of being faithful to God vs not being faithful to God, but I want to read the last bit of this in the Message version. Verses 24-30 in the Message read:

24-25 “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’

26-27 “The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.

28-30 “‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’

Sometimes we don’t take these steps that God is calling us to because we are afraid of the call and afraid to disappoint Him. But we see here that that is no excuse. And in the Message version, He calls the fearful servant a “play-it-safe”. While I was leading my small group this weekend, I asked the guys, what areas have you “played-it-safe” in what God has called you?

There is also another kind of fear that plagues us sometimes and can keep us from what God is calling us to. The fear of man. Proverbs 29:25

Proverbs 29:25 CSB

The fear of mankind is a snare, but the one who trusts in the Lord is protected.

The fear of man is a different kind of bondage. We fear the opinion of man sometimes more than we reverence and fear God. But the Word calls the fear of man a snare or a trap for a reason. Fearing man will keep you in cycles of doing things to be seen, heard, and celebrated and keep you away from doing things for the glory of God. This is one of the reasons we have to kill our flesh. Our flesh wants to live for the opinions of man so that the flesh can be gratified when people clap. But what happens when they don’t? I’ve said this quote for years but its not until recently that I’ve actually began to really live like this, “If you live for the cheers, you’ll die by the boos.” What does that mean? It means if you live for the applause of men it will debilitate you when people don’t celebrate what you do or say. As Christians it is dangerous to live for what people think or want. When we do that we aren’t living authentically.

Galatians 1:10 CSB

For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

To be a follower of Christ is to please God. We can’t live to please a world that crucified a perfect man, it doesn’t make sense. John 15:18-21

John 15:18–21 CSB

“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they don’t know the one who sent me.

Stop seeking validation from the world. Fear God, not man.

Doubt Disrupts Our Trust in God

How many people after God calls them to something, doubt Him? Doubt that you can do it, doubt that you’re going to succeed. Doubt that you actually heard from God. When we allow doubt to creep in we begin to question God. Doubt is a lack of confidence. So we at times either lack confidence in ourselves, in our hearing, or lack confidence in God. James 1:6-8

James 1:6–8 CSB

But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.

When we doubt God or the call of God on our lives, we find ourselves in between two camps. That of belief and unbelief. We find ourselves in a double-minded way. The greek word for double-minded is the word dipsychos meaning two-souled. It paints the image of someone split in half, restless, and having an internal conflict. That is what doubt does to us. It splits us in half putting us in two camps, wavering between the call of God and being right where the enemy wants us. The enemy wants us in this state, in fact its one of his oldest tricks. We can Go back to the Garden of Eden where the serpent talks to Eve and gets her to question what God said. He presents her with a question that causes her to doubt Genesis 3:1

Genesis 3:1 CSB

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

Thats all the enemy has to do many times to sow doubt is plant this question in your mind. Did God really say…

Did God really say to start preaching, did God really say to start that business, did God really say to go back to school, did God really say to get into community with other believers, did God really say to go back to church cause you’ve been fine watching from home? The enemy sows these seeds of doubt which cause us to question God and ultimately neglect what He called us to or in some cases what He’s called us away from. It disrupts our trust in God.

We cannot allow the enemy to sow these seeds of doubt, we must fully trust in what God said and in who he is. Isaiah 26:3

Isaiah 26:3 CSB

You will keep the mind that is dependent on you in perfect peace, for it is trusting in you.

Trust in God and you will be in His perfect peace and the seeds of doubt will not stir you.

Lack of Understanding Keeps You Still

If you don’t understand the weight and the gravity of what you are called to do you won’t move. If you don’t understand the fact that we don’t have an endless amount of time to do what God called us to we have no urgency. This lack of understanding the need for urgency keeps many of us still. Its one of the things that has kept me still for a while. And something that’s helped me reframe my mindset surrounding this has been John Bevere’s book “Driven By Eternity”. It talks about having an eternity mindset, focused on the second coming of Jesus and that we need to be ready for His return. Not just doing works for the sake of doing them thats legalism, but because we are commanded with assignments and we are all entrusted with different things. These times we are living in, the Bible calls them evil days, these are the last days truly. And we cannot afford to be careless of the things of God.

Proverbs 1:32 CSB

For the apostasy of the inexperienced will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

That word complacency means a careless security or ease that comes upon someone when they turn away from God and His calling. It destroys you. When you become careless of the things of God you allow yourself to an arrogance that isn’t rooted in eternity and God’s vision for you, but in pride and your own selfish vision and desires for yourself.

Much like the servant from the parable of the talents, he was careless of the master and what the master entrusted to him. My challenge to you is to not be careless of the things of God. Take serious what it is He wants you to do, because we don’t have as much time as we think we do. And God isn’t looking for perfection, He’s looking for a willing heart and progress. Pastor Mo said yesterday “Progress is rented, and the rent is due EVERY DAY”. So make progress towards what He’s calling you to and He will be faithful to make it succeed.