If you use Apple Music like I do, you have probably seen a banner of how Taylor Swift is making the most of quarantine and has released a new album. That got me thinking. What am I doing? It has been four months since I have written a blog post and three months since I have published a public YouTube video. School has been over for two months. I’ve spent a bunch of time watching YouTube videos, arguing on Discord, and playing Civilization III. After considering my time usage, I realized that I want to be more like Taylor Swift, not by following her beliefs or listening to her music, but by being more productive with my time. I have three weeks until school starts, and a dying world needs to hear the Good News of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection. So, I’ve chosen to make a stand, to take a break from distractions like Discord and gear up for battle! Because of that choice, I can focus on what God has called me to do and encourage you now to follow God’s calling on your life in this season.
First, you need to know whether God wants you to be what the public would consider “active” regarding your interests. In Ecclesiastes 3, Solomon explains about how “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven” (verse 1[1]). For example, if God has gifted you with writing, you could be inactive or doing other activities when the Lord wants you to write of His goodness. On the other hand, perhaps He is calling you to pause and shift your focus in life. There is a time to purse hobbies, be involved in public ministry, and rest for a time. God calls us to balance our lives between work and enjoyment. We have the “God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied... [and] to do good in our lives” (verses 10 and 12) but we also “should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all [our] labor,” which “is the gift of God” (verse 13). No matter what we are supposed to be doing, we don’t need to worry but can be rest assured that the Lord is working it for His greater plan, which “shall be forever,” and “nothing can be added to it And taken from it” (verse 14). Therefore, pray and ask God what He wants you to be doing during this time in life. Even if it doesn’t make sense, it is all for us to revere the Lord or “fear before Him” (verse 14).
Secondly, you need to know what exactly God wants you to do in this season. To prosper in life, you need to follow God’s plan. When Isaiah lived, he saw Israel’s corruption and rebellion to God, but he also saw that in the future, God would lead Israel in the way of prosperity and away from their idolatry. The Lord would guide Israel’s every step telling them, “This is the way, walk in it” (Isaiah 30:17). Because “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8), we know that the words and doctrinal principles of Isaiah 30 apply to us as well. So, ask God what His plans are for you so that you can prosper in your work and be an effective witness of the Good News of Christ! The Lord will let you know what direction to take!
Thirdly, act! For myself, that can be the hardest part of being part of God’s plan. During Sequoia Brigade Camp this year, the Lord gave me this vision of reviving Truth and Love Ministries including the blog, but it was difficult getting back into the hang of writing. After writing a whole tech article for my clarinet teacher in a matter of hours, I realized that there was a spiritual battle to prevent me from writing for the Lord. Even as I write this right now, I am tempted to go to sleep and back out of the blog post due date, but I know that I can fight the battle in the Lord by “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5). Because the Lord has given me “weapons of… warfare” that are “mighty in God for pulling down strongholds” (II Corinthians 10:4), I can ignore my bodily urge to delay the blog post so that you can read what God has put on my heart to share with you. The same applies to you, my beloved friend. Once you have prayerfully considered the path on which God is calling you to walk, you must put down the thoughts of laziness because that will prevent you from maturing in the Lord and sharing His hope and love with others. As you know, the theme for this year is God’s Deliverance, and perhaps the Lord is just waiting for you call out to Him, “Help,” to give you deliverance and strengthen you to move forward in His plan for you!
What’s the ultimate lesson to be learned here? It really comes back to our 2018 theme: Reliance on God. To have an action plan, we need the Lord to direct our steps to tell us where and how to share the Gospel. If you are unsure about where God wants you, He will deliver you from your confusion and will give you wisdom if you “ask in faith, with no doubting” (James 1:6). Don’t worry about any of these plans but pray and ask the Lord through every season of life. Afterwards, act in faith and let God produce the results. I may not have become a Taylor Swift fan, but I have learned to be more productive with my time and focus it on what the Lord has called me to do. What am I doing? I’m writing to encourage others to find hope in God’s Word and will do so as long as the Lord leads me! What are you doing? Ask God and follow His lead!
COMMITTING TO GOD’S GRACE AND LOVE,
Jeremiah Yonemura
[1] All Scripture is from the New King James Version