Vol. 6, No. 31 – August 1, 2021
How is Your Aim?
Psalm 32:8
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. –Psalm 32:8
Have you noticed that God is a God who uses timing and direction? It is rather obvious He wants us to know what to do and when to do it. Re-read Psalm 32:8. There are many times we get caught trying to live ahead of God’s will or plainly outside of His will. We are guilty are we not?
A character trait we all struggle with is patience. Patience does wonders; however, patience rarely works wonders for the man who plants a lemon grove in Anchorage Alaska. If that is you, you are probably still waiting for the lemons. (Although I have a son living in Anchorage that planted a small lemon tree and it produced two lemons. Something about the constant sunshine in the brief summer months).
There is never a right time to do the wrong thing. So, how is our aim? It does not matter if we have no knowledge of when to pull the trigger! God knows but we all too often have hearing problems.
If we are one who struggles in pulling the trigger (deciding what to do), we will find life sailing right by. We will have lived, but not enjoyed. God is an eternal being, He is not impacted by time—we are. Seems that God created time, not for Himself, but for our benefit.
One of the characteristics of hell is truth seen too late—duty neglected in its season –Tyron Edwards.
Aim taken, but the “aimer” never pulled the trigger. If we do not respond to the question, it is not likely that the question will keep, or return to us.
There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come –Victor Hugo.
Too many of us want to apply heat to our dreams when we should be applying light. The Psalmist writes, Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path –Psalm 119:105. In those OT times, there were no streetlights, headlights, or flashlights. It was difficult to navigate the paths with no moon light to help. So, a person would strap little oil lamps to their sandals to see the path. Interesting that the light produced only showed enough path for one step at a time. The lamp illuminates things that we a dealing with in the present. It directs the next steps. What good is our aim if we are unwilling to come under the light?
If we jump to wrong decisions with our impatience, happy landings may not follow. Think about running ahead with the oil lamp—will you really see that hole coming? Too many leave right opportunities to push for other opportunities. The holes in life often come quickly. God’s point is to seize today’s opportunities today, and tomorrow’s opportunities tomorrow.
Life Application
When our success depends on accuracy, it is best not to hurry more quickly than we should. Those who make poor decisions regarding their aim, use of time, or success, are the first to complain that their use of time was pressed upon them by someone else. It was not their fault! They are the victim. Historically, there have been examples of great running backs on major football teams, who being the fastest player on the team, far outrunning the rest of the players—but they ran the toward the wrong goal line.
How is our running skill?
Timing is vital—God’s timing is essential.
- For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay –Habakkuk 2:3
- There is an appointed time for our vision, our aim—do not get far-sighted or too near sighted, our aim needs 20/20 vision before pulling the trigger
- Too many say, God opened the door, or God led me to do . . . when God was silent approving what we decided to do all along
- Following His will releases us for opportunity and also identify our priorities, and also helps our aim and allows us to pull the trigger
- Since Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, why would we waste time traveling another way?
