When God Gives Extra Time - Martin Wiles

So the sun stood still and the moon stayed in place until the nation of Israel had defeated its enemies. Joshua 10:13 NLT

What could I do with an extra day or on other occasions when God gives extra time? 

Almost every four years, February gets an extra day. More than two thousand years ago, Roman general Julius Caesar introduced Leap Years into the Roman world, which at that time used the Julian calendar. Every year that was divisible by four was classified a Leap Year. This practice produced too many Leap Years but wasn’t corrected until the introduction of the Gregorian calendar.

Leap Years are necessary to sync the Gregorian calendar with the earth’s revolutions around the sun. The earth requires 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds to make one revolution. Since the Gregorian calendar year only has 365 days, failing to add one day every four years would mean losing six hours annually and a total of 24 days over 100 years.

Joshua needed extra time, too. Daylight was waning, and he hadn’t finished defeating God’s enemies. He decided to pray and ask God for more time. God answered by allowing the sun to stand still.

I’ve often wished for more than an extra day. A few more hours in every day would do nicely.

Joshua’s reason for needing extra time was admirable; mine doesn’t always fall into the same category. I suppose when God gives extra time I need to reflect on why I have it. Is it because I’m lazy? Are there things I should do? Does God have plans I’m not following? Does he want me to rest?

Of course, the opposite may also be true. God might withhold extra time because I’m not using his allotted time judiciously. Jesus tells several parables demonstrating the necessity of using wisely what God gives along with warning about what can happen when I don’t.

Leap Year gives us an extra day for meditation—and perhaps action. A day that won’t surface for another four years. A day to meditate on some crucial questions: “What have I done with Jesus?” and “What am I doing for him?” A day to contemplate his goodness in spite of our badness as well as his undeserved unconditional love and forgiveness even when we don’t meet his expectations.

Leap Year re-aligns the calendar with the earth’s rotation, preventing the loss of time. Taking advantage of the extra time God gives can re-align priorities, decisions, relationships, and life in general.

Let God reveal extra time in your calendar and how he wants you to use it.

Father, enable me to always use the time you give wisely. 

I invite you to try my book Hurt, Hope, and Healing in eBook or paperback. If you seek hope and healing because of the hurts you have faced, this book is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Need More Time - Martin Wiles

On the day the Lord gave the Israelites victory over the Amorites, Joshua prayed to the Lord in front of all the people of Israel. He said, “Let the sun stand still over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Aijalon.” Joshua 10:12 NLT

Lord, I need more time.

With Dad. To properly tell him good-bye. To let him hear how much I love him and how I think he was a great parent. But I’m not sure he can hear me. His organs are shutting down. The doctors have done all they can. We plan to honor his wishes and remove all the life-prolonging equipment, letting him go home to heaven.

Lord, I need more time.

With Mom. If things keep going as they are, I’m not sure she’ll get things straight anymore. Some of her conversations are quite confusing. She mixes up stories, people, and dates. Her mom had Alzheimer’s, and I think if Mom lives, she’ll get it too. How will I handle her not knowing me? How will I handle not being able to carry on an intelligent conversation with her?

Lord, I need more time.

To pay the bill. You know we received “the notice.” In two days, our service will be disconnected. We have no idea where the money will come from, but You tell us not to worry. You’ll provide our food, shelter, and clothes. But a little more time would be nice. 

Lord, I need more time.

With my brother. And for researchers to find a cure for the disease. He’s so young. I thought we’d hike in the mountains until we were both old men. Now he walks either with braces, a cane, or a walker. Sometimes, he is rolled around in a wheelchair. The medicine helps, but he’s just not the same person. I can barely understand him now and find myself asking, “What,” more often.

Joshua needed more time also. He and the nation of Israel were in a desperate fight. Daylight waned, but the enemy kept coming. So, he, too, asked God for more time, and God granted it by extending daylight for an entire day. A miracle. 

The list of why we might need more time—or why someone we love might need more time—is endless. Sometimes, God gives more time; sometimes, He doesn’t. Faith prompts us to ask for time, but faith also enables us to accept things as they are when He doesn’t.

Regardless of whether God gives us more time or not, we can trust Him. His nature is love. His wisdom far exceeds any knowledge we could ever gain. He operates with unconditional love for the people He has created. And He has control, just as He did over the day when Joshua fought that long-ago battle.

When you need more time, ask God. He may grant it—and even if He doesn’t, He’ll give you the wisdom and strength to carry on.

Prayer: Father, give us the time we need to do the work You’ve given us to do.

Tweetable: Do you need more time? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Flashback Friday - Time Management - Martin Wiles

Time Management 

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time. Ephesians 5:15-16 NKJV

“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.” 

Mother Teresa spoke volumes when she uttered those words. As I get older, the 24 hours in each day and the 365 days in every year seem to hurry by more quickly. I’ve always longed for my retirement years, imagining how I’d be able to spend each day doing what I want when I want with no one telling me when or how to do it. As a teacher, I have an opportunity to sample that lifestyle for three months every summer. Since I don’t have the funds to fill my days with activities and trips, a few weeks of downtime is all I need before boredom sets in. Read more...

Tweetable: How do you manage your time? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

God Exists - Martin Wiles

Series: Nature Lessons About God

For the life of every living thing is in his hand, and the breath of every human being. Job 12:10 NLT

The warm straw-grass encapsulated my body, and I marveled.

I’ve always loved nature. As a young boy, one of my favorite things was to lie on the ground and gaze at the sky. If during the day, I’d look at the shapes of the clouds and imagine I saw various animals. If during the night, I’d gaze at the millions of stars, any planets I could see, and the moon. I’d sing, “I See the Moon.” Even though I was reared in a Christian home, I had enough sense to know all these wonderful things didn’t just happen.

And then there was the wildlife. Dad taught me to squirrel hunt, but a cousin, and others, taught me to deer hunt. I sat in a field or by the side of the road and listened as the dogs howled while they chased deer through the woods and fields.

But I enjoyed still hunting better. I climbed a tree, situated myself in a stand, and waited. As I did, I saw a variety of animals. Birds flittering through the air, singing their songs. Squirrels barking and scampering from one tree to another—sometimes the very tree I sat in. Fox or bobcats moseying through the fields. A turkey here and there, gobbling for a mate.

Again, I concluded these animals didn’t just appear, any more than I or any other human had. Someone was responsible.

Job knew it also. His life was in shambles, fair-weather friends told him God was punishing him for unconfessed sin, but Job knew better. God was responsible for his existence—and for his state of affairs.

When I came through public school, teachers still taught creation as an option for everything’s existence. Sadly, this is no longer true. Secular evolution reigns as the explanation for our appearance. But chance, even if controlled by some force, is a fickle reason to base everything’s existence upon.

Personally, I’d rather believe a loving God is responsible for the world’s existence, as well as everything on this planet—me included. Nature points to this conclusion—and it always has, which is why all people groups from the beginning of time have worshipped gods, or representations of them.

God has placed in us the knowledge that He exists and has used nature as one of His primary witnessing tools.

Don’t let a bad explanation explain away a good God.

Prayer: Father, thank You for forming a creation that witnesses of Your existence. 

Tweetable: Are you certain of God's existence? 

Thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

I Am - Martin Wiles

God replied to Moses, “I am who i am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” Exodus 3:14 NLT

The wrong tense can lead to the wrong conclusion.

I am the President. Not likely that’s true—or that it ever will happen. One, because I don’t plan to run. Two, because I have no political experience and wouldn’t have any chance of winning. But the present tense would tell someone that is what I am, currently.

I was President. Different scenario. Somehow, I made it into the office and served my term. At some point in the past. But unless I said when, no one would know. They’d simply know it happened in the past because was is the past tense of am.

I will be President gives yet another scenario. I have not been the President in the past, nor am I the President in the present. Adding will looks to the future.

Without a verb, a sentence cannot be a sentence. Verbs link subjects to nouns or adjectives, show action, help, or show state of existence. I am shows state of existence. It tells what I am currently. I can only be in one place and time for one second and still say, “I am.” After one second passes, I will be “I was.”

With God, things are different. When God told Moses to lead His people out of Egyptian slavery, Moses said they’d want to know who sent him. God said to tell them “I AM” did.

I live in chronological time—seconds followed by minutes followed by hours followed by days followed by years. Once one second passes, I’m in the past tense, never to be in that present again. God, however, lives in the eternal now. He sees the past, present, and future all at the same time. Like watching a parade from the top of a tall building.

Pretty heavy stuff, but the implications bring comfort, encouragement, optimism—and a dose of realism. Regardless of the physical pain, God abides in the present with me to give me peace and strength to endure. If the pain is emotional—depression, discouragement, disappointment—He stays in the present present and in all future presents. When I’m doing my best to fulfill His plan for my life, God walks with me in the present, guiding me forward.

Learn from the past, look forward to the future, but enjoy the present and know God abides with you in every one of your present moments.

Prayer: Father, we thank You for dwelling with us in all of our present moments.

Tweetable: Are you in time with God's time?

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram. Help us spread God's encouragement through His Love Lines.

Investments with Guaranteed Returns - Martin Wiles

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Matthew 6:19 NLT

He thought I earned big bucks, but his smile turned to confusion when I told him I made nothing.

Prior to our Sunday evening service, I talked with one of our sound technicians who had recently returned to college. Knowing I had taught grammar, he wanted to share a website he had discovered that improved his writing.

In our conversation, I mentioned I was the Managing Editor for a popular devotional website. As I described my responsibilities, he said, “That must pay pretty good.”

I returned his smile and said, “Here’s how much it pays” and formed a zero with my hand.

His confused look told me he didn’t understand. So I explained. I love editing and grammar. I also love investing in the lives of other authors, giving them the benefit of my knowledge and training. As many editors have helped me, so I want to assist others. Their work—which will be posted on websites and in journals, books, and newspapers, will outlast me. 

Jesus doesn’t say having possessions is wrong, but He warns they can steal our focus from more important things. Things don’t last, and things can turn our focus from spiritual pursuits. We live in a throwaway age where stuff lasts less time than it once did. Rather than focus on holding on to earthly play toys, Jesus says I need to store my belongings in heaven. But how?

As I post my own devotions on the internet and assist other authors in doing the same, I’m making an eternal investment that will outlive me. Long after I’m dead, my words for the Lord will circulate and continue to influence people’s lives.

I store treasures in heaven through spiritual disciplines. As I pray, read God’s Word, fellowship with other believers, share my faith, and use my spiritual gifts, I send rewards ahead to my eternal home.

Storing treasure in heaven also takes place every time I do anything that will outlast me. When I invest my spiritual heritage in my children and grandchildren, I store treasure in heaven. Hopefully, they will follow my example long after I’m gone. When I mentor a younger person in their spiritual journey, I send treasures to heaven. They too will outlive me and carry on the faith.

Heavenly investments won’t rust, break down, or be stolen. Invest in eternity, not earth.

Prayer: Father, guide us in those pursuits that would send treasures to our heavenly home with You. 

Looking for a wide selection of genres in inspirational books at discount prices? Click here to see selections.

Thanks to all our faithful followers who are "sharing" our posts--please keep it up! We also invite you to follow and like us on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter. Help us spread God's encouragement through his love lines.