Greetings Brother,
We have reached the dog days of summer. Around my house the cicadas are buzzing in the trees, the grass is brown and if I wasn’t watering every couple of days the flowers would be dead. With the Labor Day holiday upon us serving as the warning that summer is almost over. Or for your sports fans football season starts!
It’s funny how we use events to mark the passage of time in our lives. Some are trivial like sports, others are earth shattering like the death of a loved one, or the one that we are all most familiar with is going to prison. The important thing is that the events must have a personal meaning. The times in our lives that are a blur are the ones that don’t have any memorable events to provide a time frame. As I heard it expressed once, “Life isn’t measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away.”
The question becomes what are you doing to create those all important milestones? In a place where the daily routine is monotonous by design what can you do? My friend Daniel would say you can do an in-depth Bible study or book by a classic Christian author like C.S. Lewis, Bonhoeffer, or Wigglesworth. Spending time to study word by word, line by line, concept by concept until you have absorbed it. Savor the time spent with the material, take notes, meditate on it, memorize passages that have special meaning. Let it permeate your being and it will transform you.
I always recommend doing something for others. Whether it is for someone cl0se to you or a stranger. By serving others you not only make a milestone for yourself but also for the other person. This may or may not require you to get outside your comfort zone. There doesn’t need to be a financial cost. Most times it is just our time that we can give to help another person. I like to say that we are “blessed to be a blessing.” It doesn’t take much to look around and see the needs of others. The key is this only happens when we aren’t focused on ourselves.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “For every thing there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Every season will end. Life moves forward whether we want it to or not. Life is change. Whether for better or worse is often how we interpret it, either optimisticly or pessimisticly. If life gives you lemons make lemonade, otherwise the sour look on your face has no up side. Trust God to be faithful. He is in control even when we feel like life is out of control.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” E.M. Bounds says, “Trust is faith that has become absolute, approved, and accomplished.” So I encourage you to keep the faith, and make the most of this season in your life. Know that you are not alone and not forgotten. I’m praying for you.
Your Brother in Christ
Christ, Crime and Punishment 