Time

Before I even started college, I wondered how I was going to manage my time.

First off, what do you spend a majority of your day on? Is it work, school, family, time with friends, studying your Bible, prayer, or something else?

I would say that a majority of my day before I came to school was spent on either working at the supermarket I had a position at or working at home. I also hung out with friends, read my Bible everyday, tried to write regularly on this blog about what God's been showing me through his word, and I prayed for a heart for where He wanted me to go in my life beyond the point I was at.

Now that I am in a new chapter of my life, with a new routine and surroundings, I have begun to ask the Lord what he wants me to do with my time.

Psalm 103:5 says, "As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field." This is a repeated message throughout Scripture. Man's life is not compared to the strength of a hurricane or a tornado, but the frailty of grass and flowers of the field.

There is only 24 hours in a day, and I admit that I know I need 7-8 hours of that to not feel drained the next day. Yet here I am in college, and the only time I was able to get 7 hours of sleep was this Saturday morning. Sleep used to be a priority. In fact it still is, just not the one of my top ones. In one week at Northland, I have realized that life is not about my priority list, but much to do about Christ. He is the reason we live, and it's through him he promises joy and peace. We do not have to give those traits up to follow him. Comfort, maybe. But seeking after him, we see in time what we thought we knew as peace, comfort, and joy are actually not what God defines as them as. The way he defines these traits are much greater and wonderful.

So coming here to a Christian college, I see one challenge. My time for the next two or three years can be used on either studying the Bible just to have knowledge about the Word, and do whatever with it. Or I can still minister here, letting my studies become the driving force and knowledge I need to better equip myself for ministry. All the head knowledge cannot defeat a personal relationship with God. To have his spirit reside in me, and be manifesting himself through me for the rest of my natural born life here on earth. Praise God that I am not going to college for a degree. In fact it could be I'm a semester away from graduating, and he calls me to go somewhere else. Not a another school, but a mission field. Who knows?

But I know this.

Jesus told us as believers to, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I have said over and over again I do not know where the Lord wants me, but I do know I have a passion to help the lonely, self destructive women, who may or may not know God. I want to be able to minister in communities in the States where the gospel is stale or not thought about anymore. I want to tell others about the God I know; not the one that has been people have used to abuse or manipulate others. I want to be God's comforting hands and his feet ready to go help someone who is in need. 

Now being here at school, where I am taking a full load of classes, I ask myself, "What am I doing with my time?"

Is it to study, or to grow in his likeness?
To know stuff, or to be wise?
To do well in school, or to be ready for the mission field?
To just sit in my room and study, or to be missionary now?

These things I ask myself, but maybe you should ask yourself something similar. What is God preparing your heart to do? It's not to memorize the book of a Bible for the sake of goodness, but it may simply be to love God to love others, and be used in your workplace, classroom, or church. Getting a degree has never really meant anything to me. I never really thought I'd be here on my way to get an Bachelor's, but here I am, if the Lord permits. What's important is what do I use my time for today. Not tomorrow.  
Reflection

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths"

Focus on this one passage of Scripture today. Then tomorrow. Then the next day. Then the next. And so forth. How does this shape your mindset on how you spend your day and how you follow the Lord? Ask him to lead you where he wants you as you trust in him.