Gaining Back The Time We Lost

Dear brothers and sisters, our lives are intertwined with joyful but also joyless moments. However, come to think of it, how often do we dwell on the joyful parts? Many times, it is the struggles, hurts and regrets that tend to have a stronger hold and stay in our hearts and minds. They can strike us at so many different phases of life. Problems with school life, relationships, marriage, kids, career, old age and now, the effects that COVID-19 has on our lifestyle and livelihood. As such, we are indeed living in a world and life full of much challenges. Romans 8: 22 tells us, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” Now we must affirm that the solutions of the world can never liberate us from these pains.
The usual way of coping for men is to find some kind of motivation or momentary relief. For some, they will think of retirement plans, travelling plans, some social media escape or other methods of leisure. But this is not the way the Lord intended for us. Often when we do these things, we will not be able to enjoy it to the fullest or it may only last awhile. We cannot just wish for some big struggles to go away, because truth is, new struggles will come along and instead of enjoying our life journey with the Lord, we will just be lamenting about the different problems we face.

Weary and burdened, come to the Lord.

Now, the Lord knows our labours and struggles. In Matthew 11:28 it says, ““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” When Jesus came to this world, He knew His ultimate purpose was to die on the cross and towards the end of His life, He had complete peace. Thus, He wishes to bless us with this peace as well. But how? The Lord calls us to look at the yokes of our lives today and take it up. The yoke of a stressful job, loneliness during this COVID-19 season, supporting our family, nurturing a child, shepherding someone difficult, and such. These yokes are given to us by the Lord, not to weigh us down, but to help us learn from Him. To learn how to love Him, rely on Him and enjoy the process in faith. Even though it could cost us our time, our efforts, but we experience the presence of God as we go through the weary and burdened problems of life. This is, in fact, more glorious in the eyes of God.

Now, I know a sister who is always very busy with her job and it can cause her to really work late into the night during weekdays. But she never fail to come to church meetings to receive the Word. There is definitely no compromisation in that. And when it comes to cell group gatherings, she will also make arrangements in all ways so that she may be there for the message and fellowship. Is she tired? Sure she is. Does she have to set aside time or make some sacrifices? Yes she would have to. But as she continues to abide by the Lord, keeping close to the Word and God’s sheep, I see how she always had a fixed spiritual perspective in many areas of her life. Not only that, she has also shepherd many sisters amid her own struggles. As she do so, God has sustained her through and made her glorious in His sight, being a beautiful witness through her life.

Brothers and sisters, let us not keep moping on our struggles or wishing it away. We need to bear that burden and follow the Lord’s leading in our different fields. If we do not, we will become very spiritually imbalanced over time, wanting to follow God yet still wanting to resolve our problems our way. Now, but how to we follow the Lord’s leading? It is not just about proclamation or a heartfelt prayer, it requires a consistent submission to the Lord and seeking out the Holy Spirit’s help.

Regrets— A Hard Lesson For The Heart
To gain back our lost time and rely on the Lord, the bible has given us a clear and practical answer in Psalm. Psalm 90:10 says “Our days may come to seventy years, or eighty, if our strength endures; yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.” Now we are living in this world on limited time and along with our many woes, time passes by quickly. So what do we do? In Psalm 90:11 it says, “If only we knew the power of your anger! Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.” We must see that God has His wrath against this sinful world, to show us that our lives can be empty and fleeting. Therefore, we must have the urgency to turn to God, not living our life loosely but cherishing the time given to us. We ought to humble down, not be boastful but realise the need for the Lord, amid the time that is running. If not, many times, we will be met with a hard lesson, that is — regrets. Psalm 90:12 says, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” What is regret? Regret is something you wish you could undo or do better, when you think back on the incident. Now if we reflect back on our regrets, many times, it is in areas where we have persisted in some sins, not wanting to submit to the Lord, and because of that, we have lost a lot of time and opportunities. This can also cause us to be very crippled in our faith walk. But brothers and sisters, if we are in this state, God’s work does not stop here. There is always a way out of our vicious cycle of regretfulness. That is repentance and turning back to the Lord.

Remedy For Regrets— Repentant Heart

Regret is not something we can use our own will or positivity to stop. In Psalm 90:13 it says, “Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants.” This is a prayer that recognises where our suffering truly come from, and where we can find help from. This is not just a figure of speech but it leads to actions of us coming back to church, to the word of God, gradually pursuing God’s concerns in our living, and not just matters and pleasures of the world. When we start to pursue things in a different spiritual light, we will start to see hope in a different light too.

From this turning point of repentance, it will lead to 4 new prayers we have for our lives.

4 Prayers of a Repentant Heart:

• See God’s grace right from the morning:

In Psalm 90:14 it says, “Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Before, we could be waking up to a mindset that chases after the worldly things, like growing our finances, looking good before others, recognition at work and such.  But with a repentant heart, our prayers each day begin with a desire to see God’s grace and mercy. And when we see it, it is engraved within our hearts to bring us throughout our day. So even when we are met with challenges, but the grace of God sustains our heart and footsteps. We will have a clearer spiritual sight to see the evidences of God’s love on us. If we use the time of our day when we are most awake and alert (that is in the morning) to love the world, not to dwell on the grace of God or to look to Him, we will realise that more and more troubles will surface in our living. However, it does not mean that when we keep seeking the Lord’s grace, our problems will end. It is that when we see God’s grace yet still in our struggles, the quicker we will be able to sense and seek out God’s help. Because our Holy Spirit has been calibrated and sharpened over time with the word, so we will be easily led by the Lord’s conviction.

• All our past struggles are turned into joy and blessings:

In Psalm 90:15 it says, “Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble.” It is true that our past hurts, weaknesses and failures cannot be reversed, but it can be made into our present blessings— a glorious witness for the Lord and our wisdom gained for dealing with all things around us. So we have to reconcile with our past and as we see the purpose in it, we are sanctified. Our past start to serve a new purpose and we will bear testimony for the next generation of believers as we share God’s works in our lives.

• Pray for the Lord to establish the work of our hands.

Finally, we will also have this prayer in our hearts for the rest of our time. In Psalm 90:17, “May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.” With the limited time God has given us, we will pray for His guidance to establish His works through our lives. To be honest, my prayer patterns have really changed a lot during the years. But these days, a prayer that is always in my heart is for God to really use me to establish His works, whether it is in social media content or ministering to His sheep or being a spiritual role model for my kids. Of course, I still falter in these areas, but as I pray and leave the outcomes to the Lord, to God’s construction for my life, it has greatly reduced the regretfulness, accusations or guilt in me, and strengthened my spiritual reflexes.

Brothers and sisters, I hope that as we walk out of our regrets and into repentance before the Lord, these 4 prayers will help move us into a faith walk that gains back our lost time for what truly matters. God bless.