No Lost Years

There are no lost years within the Kingdom of God.

Too often we are fretting and ashamed because of what has not happened and the way life has turned out contrary to what we imagined.

There are many despondent in circumstances that are crushing.

Many are making do with the best they have.

Others are hanging on with happy-go-lucky countenances that belie the sand ebbing away beneath their feet.

It is the denials and the dishonesties of these places that keep us bound.

Only when we are willing to name it for what it is can we bring it to our Lord.

Only when we have brought it to our Lord is it fully redeemed.

Yet, in the meantime, our Lord has entered into our stuff, is there already, and in his co-suffering way is taking up our pain and disappointment as his own.

It is why we can say and know that there are no lost years in the kingdom of God.

What appear and deeply feel to be the lost years are in fact preparation and capacity building years. They are the years where our faithfulness is tried and where our obedience is tested.

Will we stay true to the Lord and to ourselves.

Do we attune ourselves to God even when life’s static threatens to overrun our understanding.

No lost years is not so much about the years but about our position alongside the Lord; are we turned to him.

Turned to Him there are no lost years. Everything, every little piece, becomes redeemed.

And we, his people, find our entire lives harnessed forward into kingdom work. We become, not in spite of, but because of – everything has purpose and meaning when we open our eyes to see and understand the big picture.

There are no lost years.

Are you willing to settle into and rest in this?

Can you give up your need for retribution. Can we give up shame. What about grief? Where might we say thank you to the Lord for everything just as it has been?

“Therefore, thus says the Lord,
If you return, then I will restore you—
Before Me you will stand;
And if you extract the precious from the worthless,
You will become My spokesman.” Jeremiah 15:19