Prospicience. That was the final word correctly spelled at the 2002 Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee championship by then seventh grader, Pratush Bradige. With a name like that, no wonder he was good at spelling! Even spell-check doesn’t recognize the word prospicience, which means “the act of looking forward”.
We all need to practice prospicience. Too often we find ourselves looking at the past a little too long. We can certainly benefit from an occasional glance over our shoulder, but our primary focus should be on what’s ahead. The proportion is well illustrated in your car. The windshield is way bigger than your rear-view mirror. Checking the mirror isn’t nearly as important as looking at the road in front of you. In life, your past can hold you back, whether you’ve had success or failure. Past failures can discourage you from trying again. Past successes can cause us to live on the memory of successes instead of using it to launch us into even greater success. You don’t have to be a great speller to practice prospicience. Everyone can do it. The apostle Paul said it like this: Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 Be a prospicient person by keeping your eyes focused on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith! [Hebrews 12:2] Just when you thought the campfire was out, along came a gust of wind that brought the flames to life again. Anyone who has spent time in the great outdoors has learned a thing or two from a campfire. First, there’s the trick of getting the fire started in the first place, especially if you don’t have lighter fluid, gasoline or most importantly, a match. Assuming you have the good fortune of successfully starting a fire, that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax. Next you have to feed this fledgling fire carefully, first with small, dry kindling and gradually working up to a log or two. Once you’ve built it up, the fire will burn nicely on it’s own for quite a while. It’s during this time that the fire can be used for cooking or heating up water or just to enjoy its warmth. However, it will eventually die down if no new fuel is added.
The correlations between a campfire and our spiritual lives are numerous. When the flame of God’s love is ignited in us, it usually starts out hot but in danger of quickly dying out if no one is there to add solid teaching and an occasional prod to keep us turned towards God’s presence. From time to time we are allowed an opportunity to relax and enjoy the warmth, to taste the benefits of sustaining this fire. But to keep it going, we need to allow God to add new truth and inspiration on a regular basis. Even if we do allow the flame to die down, thankfully it only takes a fresh gust of the Holy Spirit to blow through us to cause us to once again be burning enough to be built up again. Our responsibility is to tend the fire. Keep feeding it with God’s Word and worship. You’ll not only be revived, but the fire in you will bring warmth, joy and sustenance to the world around you. Halt! Who goes there? You may never have been ordered to stop and be recognized, but it’s possible you have at some time not been yourself. Someone might say, “That’s not like you.” We may behave or talk in ways that are inconsistent with our real, ordinary self. We become Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired and begin acting out of character. That’s when you hear someone say something on the lines, “Halt! Who goes there?”
Those can be uncertain or even dangerous times. We could say or do something we will be sorry for later. That’s why it’s a good idea to recognize these times and do what the acronym spells—HALT! Stop and realize you are not yourself. Are you Hungry? Get some food. Are you Angry? Get some space. Are you Lonely? Find a friend to be with and to talk to. Are you Tired? Get some rest. “You are fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14). God’s plan for us is to be nourished daily by food and by His Word. He gives us positive ways to channel our anger. Through His Spirit in us, he gives us the patience and self-control we need. He never leaves us, so we are never truly alone. Beyond that, we are part of a network of friends—brothers and sisters in Christ—with whom we can meet with on a regular basis. And He has even commanded us to take a day of rest every week, for our benefit! Even Jesus got away to rest when he was exhausted. Next time someone says, “You don’t seem yourself,” HALT! Find out what is influencing your character, and get what is necessary physically and/or spiritually. You will find yourself being recognized once again as the wonderful person God intended you to be. Are you a messy-desk person, or a neat-desk person? I tend to be a messy-desk person. I don’t have files—I have piles! I don’t need less stuff on my desk—I need a bigger desk! Every once in a while I have to wade through the mess and start throwing, filing, and organizing. What always amazes me is the amount of things I kept that I should have thrown out when I first got it. But, you know how it is. I think to myself, “I might need this someday.”
You may not have the problem of a cluttered desk, but all of us have a tendency towards allowing clutter in our lives. The extra stuff we don’t really need but hate to throw out as well. When you sort through your garage, basement or closet you consciously decide what’s important to you. You keep those things that have value or purpose and get rid of things that you no longer need, or that no longer work or fit! Sometimes, in the process of uncluttering you find something you forgot you had—something you could really use now! Today, in the process of uncluttering spiritually, there is one thing you won’t ever need to throw out. That is your trust in the Lord. If your trust in Him has gotten buried under a bunch of other things, pull it out. That’s the one possession that will last for an eternity. Maybe it’s time to dust off that relationship and renew it by spending time with him. Maybe it’s been a while since you attended and participated in a worship service or meditated on Scripture. Simply pull that trust out from under the clutter and place it as a priority over all the other things that try to make their way into your life. Whether you are a messy-desk person or a neat-desk person, trusting in the Lord will help you manage every item. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2016
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