The Biggest Mistake of Our Times

People are sometimes born into the wrong times. Has this happened to you?

Maybe, you were meant to live during the frontier days – you know, when times were simpler. Men were men. Women were women. And hard work, community, and honest living were valued.

Or perhaps you were supposed to live the fifties on an endless loop when people respected tradition, knew their Bibles, and roles were clear.

Some of you, perhaps, were supposed to live at the dawn of American independence. Those were your times. When freedom really meant one was free, your home was your castle, and everyone bowed their heads for prayer.

Who can blame a person for growing weary of our times and imagining it means God made some cosmic error in assigning us to live here and now? We’ve all entertained at least a fleeting thought that we’re out of step with the age.

I, myself, am fascinated by the turn of the last century – the first half of the 1900s. It seems to me an exciting age and it produced writers whose voices influence me still – Tolkien, Lewis, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, Jack London, Zane Grey, Langston Hughes. Powerful stories. Distinct styles. Themes that resonate with me in this modern day.

But I was not born to live in those times.

God sent me here – now. And if you’re reading this in 2018, He destined you to share these days with me.

In Acts 17:26-27, Paul is quoted as saying: “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,”

God doesn’t make mistakes. We aren’t in the wrong time period – some of us simply refuse to accept our assignments.

You see, the simple fact is that if we live now, He designed us for now.

Not only that, but His Word says God has equipped us with everything we need for life and godliness, even in the age of Cosby, Trump, #metoo, North Korea, sarin gas, gender confusion, and growing persecution of the church.

We have no excuse to waste the time we’ve been given imagining we belong to another age. We’ve received our assignment and our calling is to follow Jesus – as our unique selves – to be lights in these dark times.

This isn’t a post to make us all feel good. In fact, I think we shouldn’t feel good if we waste the gift of this age wishing ourselves in another. It doesn’t feel like a gift sometimes, I know, but that’s our perspective – not the truth.

The moment we stop daydreaming and moaning, the moment we say, “Yes, these are my times and I know my Father designed me for now,” is the moment we should prepare to see God work in us and through us.

You have a purpose in these times. I know that because Jesus placed you here. We need you to be you – surrendered to Jesus – now.

All those voices that still speak to me reflected their times – but some reflected those times in the context of a relationship with Jesus – and those voices speak life. Life that informed not only their times but time into eternity. We can be those voices for our times – and beyond.

One of my favorite Tolkien quotes is this:

“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.

‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’” -The Fellowship of the Ring

I have an assignment for now – you need me to be faithful to it. I need you to be faithful to yours – even if we haven’t met.

These days are hard to navigate – impossible at times. I know. I’m here, too.

The good news is He created you and me to navigate hard, impossible times – in the name of Jesus Christ.

So, don’t make the biggest mistake of our times by spending them imagining you belong in another.

Act now. Live now. Love as only those designed for these times can love.

You and I were designed to love now – under duress, under pressure, under fire. We are designed to speak life into these days – life and light. To neglect our call is to aid the darkness.

Light the darkness of our times with your life. Now.

The Biggest Mistake of Our Times https://t.co/OxabYsGXV8 #Jesus #amwriting #amliving

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) September 26, 2018