#19 Seize the Moment

"To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven"
Ecclesiastes 3:1

The other day I was talking with someone and I had to have my children with
me because Ginger had to take care of some things without distraction. So I
took the children with me as I did some visitation and other meetings. I
love having my children with me to do things but sometimes as parents we
forget what a blessing our kids are. While I was talking to one person in
particular I was standing outside and the kids were to be waiting quietly
for me in the car. Well, let's just say that they decided to lose their
minds and repeatedly get out of the car in multiple attempts to tell me
about the bad things that their siblings were doing inside the car. With
each time the door opened, I could feel myself getting more and more
frustrated with my children's seeming inability to follow simple commands.

Apparently my friend that I was talking with could see my building
frustration. He said to me ever so gently, "Pastor, one day you will wish
that they were here to bug you." As that began to sink in I had to admit
that he was absolutely right. My mind went back right then to the time that
I was in Iraq and I prayed every day that I would get to see my family
again, and now here I was ready to pop a blood vessel because they were just
being kids. I am so thankful that my friend was willing to speak up and
help me refocus my priorities in that moment.

I wonder how many of you reading this just now may have your priorities out
of focus. I wonder if you too have forgotten what is most important in
life. I know that there is a season for everything. We have to work and do
the things necessary for survival, but I wonder how often we sacrifice the
most important things in this life for the temporal and trivial things this
world has to offer.

Many of you who read this may not have children, but perhaps you have not given God the proper attention that He deserves in your life. Perhaps that has been all too true for many of us. Friends, I want to encourage you to stop today and make sure your priorities are in order. We must have God first, family second, and then all others can fall into line somewhere after those two. Won't you stop and consider if you have things in order? One day when you look back on your life it may be too late
to truly enjoy the people and things that were here for only a season.

Dear Father God,
Please give us the grace to know how to prioritize our lives. If left to
our own devices Lord we will mess things up every time. So please give us a
mind that is in tune with Yours Lord. Bless us today as we worship You and
live for Your glory. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.