Wasted, By Who's Standards?

A lot has happened since my last post.  I didn't get into the school I wanted (crying was involved).  I registered for the school I didn't want to go to (it'll be a great education anyway).  I still have no idea what's happening with my life (God does!!!!).  All these things are happening for a reason.  I may not know what they are, but they have a purpose (Ecclesiastes 3:1-14).  With that said, I want to write about being wasted.

Wasted - done to no avail; useless; to consume, spend, or employ uselessly

I was listening to the radio one day while on a transport for work.  It was on some rap station (not at all my kind of music).  Anyway, a commercial came on about a local club.  They were advertising their weekend deals and specials.  The part that caught my attention was their "wasted" Fridays.  They were talking about $5 shots and coming out on Friday and getting crunk (crazy drunk).  This was the what they spent their allotted 1 minute 30 seconds repeating (if you don't know anything about repetition, it's the quickest and easiest way to learn and memorize something, for it to sink into your mind permanently).  It got me thinking about how sad that is, if the highlight of a person's week is to go out and drink until you can't think straight.  What kind of life is that?  What's the purpose?
Yet, there are so many other ways in which we waste our lives.  It doesn't have to involve alcohol or drugs, finding a high to get you away from the world.  There are so many things to get addicted to that uselessly consume our time.  Television, music, make believe, dreams, focusing on negativity, focusing on the fact that there seems to be no purpose or direction, thinking that what you're doing now isn't accomplishing anything (my biggest problem now).  As a Christian, it could be not doing all God has asked (guilty as charged).  We are His workmanship created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10).  If we are too busy focusing on the stuff, on what we are or aren't doing, what we should be doing; we're not looking at God, we are wasting our lives. 
There is nothing at all wrong with asking God what His purpose for your life is.  There is nothing wrong with pursuing that purpose.  BUT it has to be accomplished in HIS time, NOT ours.  I get disappointed by the fact that I don't know where He wants me to be in life, what my career is going to be, what He wants me to do now, what He wants me to do later.  I get so wrapped up in it that I waste my time.  He has me exactly where He wants me to be, doing exactly what He wants me to be doing.  When it's time for me to move on to something else He is more than capable of moving me there.  I don't have to be worried about.  I don't have to obsess.  I don't have constantly bug Him about it.  He knows what He's doing with my life and how He's going to get me there (Jeremiah 29:11).  My only job is to focus on Him and work where He has me now, doing what I'm doing (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14; Romans 12:1-2).  Anything else is wasting the time He's given.

Standing at the back door
She tried to make it fast
One tear hit the hardwood
It fell like broken glass
She said sometimes love slips away
And you just can't get it back
Let's face it

For one split second
She almost turned around
But that would be like pouring raindrops
Back into a cloud
So she took another step and said
I see the way out and I'm gonna take it

I don't wanna spend my life jaded
Waiting to wake up one day and find
That I let all these years go by
Wasted

Another glass of whiskey
But it still don't kill the pain
So he stumbles to the sink
And pours it down the drain
He said it's time to be a man
And stop living for yesterday
Gotta face it

'Cause I don't want to spend my life jaded
Waiting to wake up one day and find
That I let all these years go by
Wasted

Oh, I don't want to keep on wishing
Missing the still of the morning
The color of the night
I ain't spending no more time
Wasted

She kept driving along
'Til the moon and the sun
Were floatin' side by side

He looked in the mirror
And his eyes were clear
For the first time in while, yeah

Oh, I don't want to spend my life jaded
Waiting to wake up one day and find
That I let all these years go by
Wasted

Oh, I don't want to keep on wishing
Missing the still of the morning
The color of the night
I ain't spending no more time
Wasted

Oh, I don't want to spend my life jaded
Waiting to wake up one day and find
That I let all these years go by
Wasted, yeah, yeah

Oh, I don't want to keep on wishing
Missing the still of the morning
The color of the night
I ain't spending no more time
Wasted
~Wasted by Carrie Underwood~

*Be still and know that I am God*

These are the words God gave me when I was worrying about graduate school.  A hard lesson to learn, though it is where I am right now.  At this point I have applied to two schools, one through the encouragement and insistance of my Sunday school teacher, Melanie, and her daughter.  They said, "Life's short.  Why not have an adventure?"  They teamed up against me and told me that I have taken on too much responsibility for my age and that I need to go have some fun.  My argument was that I had already made my decision and I shouldn't change my mind.  Plus, what about my family?  Those first few days after we talked about my applying for that school I was nervous and unsure, thinking about all the "What ifs?"  That was on a Monday.  On Wednesday, around 5:55 p.m., I felt this desire to go to church.  Normally, I don't go to church on Wednesday nights, and since it starts at 6:00 I didn't think I would go, but that night I felt like I should.  So I went and when I arrived, Bro. Danny was starting to preach.  He was going through Psalm 46, preaching about peace.  The verse that stuck out the most was verse 10, "Cease striving (be still) and know that I am God".  Immediately I stopped and knew that God was talking to me and telling me to stop worrying about all the "What ifs?" and to just trust Him.  While that is always easier said than done, I have come to cling to that verse everytime I worry about grad school and where I am going.  After a few days, I began to become excited about it.  I got everything together for my application and got all the godliest women I know to pray with and for me as I pursued this avenue.  The day I went to send my application all my fears and doubts came back.  I was scared I was making the wrong decision, scared I was going to be rejected, scared of what my family might say.  I focused on all my insecurities and when I told Melanie she reminded me to get still before God and listen.  I was too nervous, too scared of what He might say.  But when I finally did He reminded me of His words, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).  Those few little words whispered into the storms of my thoughts brought so much comfort.  I'm still nervous, but everytime I begin to worry about the unknown I think of those words and God brings me peace.

He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me


And oh, how He loves us, oh
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us all


He is jealous for me
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me


And oh, how He loves us, oh
Oh, how He loves us
How He loves us all


He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves


And we are His portion and He is our prize
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking


And heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets
When I think about, the way


That He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves


Yeah, He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves


Yeah, He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves us
Oh, how He loves
~How He Loves by David Crowder Band~

First Entry

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to my first blog.  I don't know how long it will last or where God will lead me with it.  All I want is to be open to where He leads.  The "About Me" section says it all about why I have started this blog.  Feel free to ask any questions and I will do my best to provide truthful answers.  If you are reading this and don't have much, or any knowledge, of the Bible and don't understand what the references mean, I suggest going to  http://www.biblegateway.com/ and typing the reference in the quick search.  This will display for you the verses I have posted from the Bible.  I hope that as I go through this life I can have an impact for God.  I want Him to use me for His great purposes (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 12:1-2).  Thanks for joining me on this journey.

What will they say when I'm gone
In words that are written in stone
Under my name
What will they claim about me

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life

Free me, my hands are tied
I'm so tired of wasting time
These endless inventions
Steal my attention from real life
And when it's done, when it's over

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life

And will the world see Christ
When they look at my life
Oh, will the world see

Oh, come on, give me, give me, give me real life
And no more, no more, no more wasting time
Because we only, we only get one life

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only
Because we only, we only get one life
~Legacy by Sanctus Real~