Where has the time gone?

Can it be that it is now August and that we are entering our fourth month in Costa Rica, that we are completing our first trimester of Spanish study, and are heading toward our first real vacation?! Where has the time gone? But as we look back, we see the hand of God displayed brilliantly in the vistas of Costa Rica, in the grades we have received, in the language we can understand, and in the conversation in which we can share. God is so good! Who would have thought that at our age we would be embarking on this new journey of life?

And can it be that 31 years have passed since we walked down the aisle of the church and became husband and wife? The 6th of August we celebrate the joining of our lives in this exciting journey of marriage that we started on a Saturday evening long ago. Where has the time gone?! But again, we look back and we see the Hand of God displayed. Four beautiful babies who all accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and matured into wonderful adults with the added delight of the three Christian husbands who love God and their wives, our three daughters. Thirty one years serving together in fruitful ministry in the states. Years of leading others to embrace a vision for the lost of the world before being rewarded with gift of ministry among the people of Guatemala, via language study in Costa Rica. God is so good! Glory to the One who knew the plan even before history began!

And can it be that the God who walked before the Israelites in the wilderness walks before us even now? Some thoughts that keep surfacing over and over while I am reading Deuteronomy during my devotions these days reveal His purpose - think He might be trying to say something to us?
1. Dread not, neither be afraid of them. The Lord your God which goeth before you, He shall fight for you...
2. For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God...For the Lord thy God is a merciful God.
3. Unto thee it was showed that thou mightest know that the Lord He is God; there is none else beside Him...Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
4. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.
5. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations.

That same God is the One who goes before us and day by day pours Himself into us. Oh that we be clean pure vessels for Him! This same Jehovah who desires to reveal Himself to me, desires to use me to share His Gospel with those who do not know Him. And dare I think that the author of language will not teach me Spanish so that I can speak His words of freedom and hope?! I think not!

This issue of time is really only an issue with us humans. In the realm of God all is eternal from the beginning to the end! Oh for the eyes to see as only He can see!