Lakes Entrance Baptist Church

Thoughts from our Pastor: “Making Sense of a Lifetime”

Lyn and I, along with Robyn Pendle recently took part in some very practical and helpful training with Baptcare. We are hosting this course to equip a team of people to support and engage with older people in our community. (highly recommended so far)
One of the areas addressed is: MAKING SENSE OF A LIFETIME, something we could do at various times throughout our lives no matter how much of our life-time we’ve lived.

Helpful questions … What has our life meant?
Have I made the kind of contribution I feel I could have made so far?
Do I, and have I operated with integrity?
How has God worked in me and through me?

The courage to ask ourselves these kinds of real questions and the willingness to re-evaluate along the journey may actually assist us to live wisely, responsibly and responsively to our Lord and His revealed will.

What do we evaluate ourselves on? Is it by comparison?
- by the level of encouragement or criticism we get? - by playing the game and gaining the approval of others?
A line out of a song “I want to hear well done by an audience of One”, sums it up. That audience will be Jesus, the One who lovingly redeems us, cleanses and renews us and invites us to follow and learn from Him.
He gives us His Spirit and with His Father as “the Gardener” purposes the much, good fruit to be formed in our life in Him. The fact that He is looking forward to a fruit-full-ness in our lives ought to encourage us that if He says it, He must know it’s truly possible. Look a little deeper and we realise it’s not just our responsibility; it is in fact, our responding to His ability. It’s a recognition that I cannot simply try to cultivate and develop fruit, but can co-operate, show willing, talk with Him about this important part of our lives and rely on what He does so well.

MAKING SENSE OF A LIFETIME happens best with daily trust and communion with Him, adjusting as He directs, facing the disciplines and difficulties of life and, as another old song says, “when we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word”, seeing in time “a harvest of righteousness and peace”. (Hebrews 12:11)
No farmer or gardener just sits and watches his crop grow. He’s on the job doing all that’s necessary. So is our Father. He’s the One that MAKES SENSE OF A LIFETIME. May you have the time of your life co-operating whole-heartedly with Him and see what’s produced.

Michael & Lyn

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