Tending Last Year's Dead Garden

I grew up in staunch Pentecostalism. Some of the 'old-timers' would say, when they testified, “Pray for me that I'll hold out until the end!” While I was not entirely insensitive to their struggles; being the whipper-snapper that I was... having barely faced any real-life trials... I would think, “Now where is the victory in that statement? “Pray for me that I'll hold out until the end!?””

Now, as the songwriter once penned, I've crossed those hot burning deserts. I have felt the stinging mist from the water that has roared under untold numbers of bridges. The real-life 'stuff' has come my way... and with hurricane force. And while I believe that we can live a victorious Christian life in spite of our situations; there have been times when I wondered if I could make it 'until the end.'

This past year... 2009... served up several of those times.

I've been pondering the apostle Paul's statement to the church at Philippi: "No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." ~Philippians 3:13, 14 NLT

You see, we have made it.

In spite of the enemy of our souls... we've made it. Adiós and Sayonara 2009! Hello 2010! It's a new decade. A new year. A new season. I'm abandoning the 'living-life-in-the-rear-view-mirror' mentality. Why not!? I can't go back; nor can I change anything in the past. And truth be told, while there were some blessed times, I have no desire to return to the same-ol'-same-ol'.

Paul admonishes us, through the unction of The Holy Spirit, to forget it; for it is indeed water under the bridge... over and done with. We must be determined not to let the past steal our present. Remember Lot's wife!

You see, if all our attention is focused on what happened (or what could have been) yesterday; we have no time to realize what God wants to do in us today.

The prophet Isaiah admonished us: “Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.” ~Isaiah 43:19 The Message

Someone said, “It's but little good you'll do... a-watering the last year's crops.” Isaiah was right... something brand new is on the horizon but if we're busy tending last year's dead garden; we'll miss it.

Becoming A Seeker

We are all seekers. In this life... never fully finding. But isn't that the intriguing part of it? The continuous search? Someone once said, "It’s not about the destination; it’s about the journey." It's not all about realizing heaven but it's about what with do with this 'life' opportunity that we have now.

I want to spend my life seeking with purpose. I am seeking God. God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah, saying: "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." ~Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV Jesus said, “Seek first, the kingdom of God and His righteousness...” Matthew 6:33 The Scriptures constantly admonish us to seek God. To know Him.

In the midst of this chaos called 'life' it's about searching for God. It's about making Him our priority. It's about God-intimacy. It's the God search! It's about loving Him with all that is in us (Matthew 22:37). It's about having a God-passion.

Will you join the countless numbers of God-seekers? It's a lifetime process... this seeking. But we are promised that when we seek, we will find. It will take tenacity... this God search. We may have to give up a few things in order to realize God in all His fullness. Self must die. But the reward will be an intimate relationship with God that few will ever experience.