Don’t stay past your expiration date

Sunshine’s Reflections

Good morning!  Happy Monday to you all!  This is the day the Lord has made, choose to rejoice and then BE GLAD IN IT!  I know you may not be a “Monday “ person, but don’t start the day complaining.  I dare you to shift the atmosphere and do something that you haven’t done before and speak positive things over this Monday morning!  Your day becomes what you declare it to be!  If you want your day to go better than normal then start speaking that it will be better!

TFTD: Don’t stay past your expiration date

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (NIV)

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:²  a time to be born and a time to die,  a time to plant and a time to uproot, ³ a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, ⁴  a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

 

Join me on a short trip to the grocery store.  I arrive at the Super Wal-Mart, my favorite store in the world, where I purchase a few items from the grocery section.  I grab bread and check the date that is farthest from the current date.  I do this because I want the bread to last for a longer period of time.  I then proceed to pick up milk and check the date in the same manner as I check the bread.  I grab a few other items, check out and then head home.  Fast forward a few weeks.  I want a bowl of cereal and I reach into the refrigerator for some milk only to discover it’s expired.  Somehow I kept the milk in the fridge past it’s expiration date.  Now I have a choice to make; drink the milk anyways and run the risk of getting sick or throwing the milk out and buying a new carton.  Ultimately the choice is mine.

Similar scenarios take place in our spiritual and physical life.  We enter into relationships, jobs and ministries and we check the date, looking for the one that is farthest from the current date.  Ultimately it’s our desire to stay in these positions for a long time.  Then weeks, months and even years go by and some how we have allowed that relationship, job or ministry position to expire.  When things expire they begin to rot and fester.  There are so many times when believers stay in situations or positions past the expiration date.  Once this happens you are no longer productive because when something expires it dies.  When something is dead and is left out too long it begins contaminating the environment.  Let’s look at a bunch of grapes.  One rotten grape can begin spoiling the entire bunch.  But if you pluck the dead grape off early enough then the other grapes have time to flourish.

The word of God shows us that everything has a time or a season.  It’s important not to stay somewhere past your expiration date.  I know you desire for this relationship to work, but if God is calling you to move on because that relationship wasn’t ordained by Him in the first place, why are you staying past the expiration date?  I know you are comfortable at the job you are in, but if God  is calling you to greater, why do you expect life to come out of a dead situation?  I know you have served in that ministry for years, but God has shifted your desires and your gifts, how long will you allow other people to suffer all because you don’t want to move?  Are you currently in something that has expired?  Has God called you to a new level, but you have chosen to drink the spoiled milk anyway?

I encourage you to seek God on when the seasons are changing.  In the same manner the seasons change in the natural; summer, fall, winter and spring, the seasons change in the spiritual.  Don’t stay in situations past your expiration date.  You can’t bear fruit in dead and dry places.  It’s time to throw out that spoiled milk and go to the store and buy some fresh milk.

Self reflection: Ask yourself, “Am I currently with someone or in a position past the expiration date?”  If the answer is yes, I encourage you to listen to God and allow Him to direct your path.  God has been calling you to make some moves and fear has kept you bound.  Step out on faith and trust the Lord to take you to the next level.

Have a blessed day walking in your new season!

 

Mrs. Nicole “Sunshine” Ellis, MBA

Can’t breathe: Try Spiritual CPR: Consistent in praying, Persistent in pursuing the knowledge of God, and Resistant to temptation.

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