"What was the point of that? I accomplished nothing."
Ever have a similar thought as your day drew to a close? It was after such a day that I reflected on some words from Charles Spurgeon and found a new way to think of what would otherwise seem to be "pointless" days. Not surprisingly, it starts by shifting the focus from yourself. Too often when we're evaluating our day, the focus is completely on ourselves. And that makes sense. We're the ones living it. But just because it's natural to view our days from the perspective of ourselves, doesn't mean we should make that our habit. What if instead, we thought about the day from the perspective of what God is accomplishing for eternity? When I did that, a day that felt pointless from my perspective suddenly took on so much more meaning.
Remember the remarkable story of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea? The Scriptures tell us that not one drop of water fell from the separated sea until the last of God's people safely set their feet on the dry ground of the other side. At that moment, once He had gathered all of Israel in, God immediately let the waters return.
What has this to do with my "pointless" day you might ask? Everything. Charles Spurgeon put it beautifully:
"In the last time, when the elect shall sing the song of Moses...it shall be the boast of Jesus, 'Of all whom you have given me, I have lost none.' In heaven there shall not be a vacant throne. As many as God has chosen, as many as Christ has redeemed, as many as the Spirit has called, as many as believe in Jesus shall safely cross the dividing sea. We are not all safely landed yet."
Wow. Never before had I seen the crossing of the Red Sea as anything more than the telling of God's power in delivering His people from the Egyptians. Greater still, the crossing of the Red Sea is a picture of God's people being gathered in, but far beyond the Israelites. And it is a picture of what God is in the process of doing even now for His people. There is no more beautiful thought than that. "There shall not be a vacant throne." Hallelujah! That last part, however, cannot be missed, for it holds the point: "We are not all safely landed yet".
That right there is the new focus of any day that from your perspective seems pointless. God is gathering His people in. You cannot see it all happening physically with your eyes, but God's children have not all yet crossed the sea. What a great new way to view my "boring" day! I might be stuck feeling that I saw no value in my day personally, but when I shift my focus from myself and realize that on that same day God has gathered another of His people in, there is then great reason to rejoice!
Each new day is actually a new day of mercy, for God will not allow one of His children to be left behind. As Spurgeon put it: "if one were absent - oh, if one of His chosen family should be cast away, it would make an everlasting discord in the song of the redeemed".
On any given day, there is so much more going on and being accomplished than we realize; it is just outside of ourselves. Sometimes we need to focus on that a little more. So, on those "pointless" days, rejoice that more of your heavenly family have been gathered in, and pray for those that have yet to journey across and join the family of God. For, "The last of the chosen ones shall soon have crossed the sea, and then shall be heard the song of triumph when all are secure." When all are secure. That's the point.