Stringing Our Days Together

"Time is limited, so I better wake up every morning fresh and know that I have just one chance to live this particular day right, and to string my days together into a life of action and purpose." Lance Armstrong (1971 – )Cyclist, seven-time Tour de France champion and cancer survivor

I have heard it said, that when we set the Lord before us, we can’t help but to live life without being shaken. Though it may offend my finite mind, the goal and purpose of my life is not to be comfortable and have everything turn out just the way I want, but instead it is to be godly, fulfill the calling and pursuits God has called me to and to make an impact our dying world. Though the pursuits of Lance Armstrong are probably not the same things we are called to, he has an insightful perspective on life. Having cancer taught him that life is short and every moment important. One wouldn’t think someone would need to be told that they need to “live” their life, but I know I need to be reminded of that. Yes, I’m still breathing so technically I’m living, but am I “living”? Am I living my days to the fullest? Am I doing all I know I can and should do? I know for myself, I can become comfortable with life. I get use to routines and schedules. Even to the point where I can have sinful reactions when plans or desires are delayed or undone. But when I was recently reading through Esther, God reminded me that His plans and purposes are far greater then my own. She was taken out of her normal life to be considered by the king as a new queen. As if being taken away from all she knew wasn’t enough, she had to wait an entire year before she was even presented to the king. Once chosen queen, she was soon presented with another “hard thing” to do. She was being asked to risk her life in order to obey God and save her people. She was being called to action…called to a purpose. Read Mordecai’s words to her as she was trying to decide what to do.

“Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Mordecai knew that God wasn’t just limited to using Esther to save his people, but God was calling her to do that very thing. What is God calling me to in my life? God hasn’t made mistakes in where He has each of us right now. He has a purpose and a calling on every single one of our lives…will we rise to the occasion? Esther did and God used her to save an entire people. So, I am praying for God’s help to actually “live” my life and live it with action and purpose.

Psalm 138:8 "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands."

John 12: 25-28 “Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.”

Acts 11:23 “When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.”