My best friend, Michele, and I used to sit at Starbucks lamenting the fact that we were women “out of time.” We both felt that we should have been born in a particular period of history. I think it is because of our similar interests in historical piece novels and Victorian movies, but we felt that we were much better suited to bustles, lace, and silk day gowns. We wanted nothing to do with the overtly sexualized culture around us and more of the subtle sway of a demure fan complimented with top hats and tails.
We are now in totally different seasons of our lives. The latest series that our pastor, Wayne Blackburn at Victory Church, is really bringing into sharp focus how we need to wake up and move forward. God put Michele and me in this century for very specific reasons that all point towards His direction, and, ultimately, serve His purpose and not our own. Eamon, the beautiful child that Michele adopted, may not have been around in 1890–the laws of adoption were so different back then. I may have not been in a position to ever meet a person like Dwight with his three amazing sons.
Our children are our legacy, and how we shape them determines our blessing, their blessing, and their children’s blessing. So my constant longing to live in a different era pretty much wastes a lot of brain time that I can use to share the Gospel, study the Word and meditate on it, and pray for others. I can now appreciate all of the changes I have been able to witness in the world, and I can rest in the assurance that God knew exactly what He was doing when he brought me into the world. I was created for such a time as this. I used to think that Luke 9:62 was a bit cruel. Telling us to leave everything behind and not look back to me meant that we shouldn’t be sentimental or act like nothing happened before we placed our faith in Jesus. But I get what it means now. It means not staying back there for long periods of time. It is good to remember, but it is unhealthy and unproductive to dwell on what was or might have been.
It’s time to wake up and move out! We need to get busy; we need to be about our Father’s business. We need to press on and leave the past where it belongs: behind us.
Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”- Luke 9:62
God bless,
Rebecca
