The Appointment You Cannot Reschedule

 

What the Math on Your Remaining Years Should Do to Your Soul

Recently, while on social media, I came across a short video with sobering statistics for people blessed enough to reach fifty. The narrator said that a fifty-year-old in the United States has about twenty-six years left, on average. That figure is not a promise, but it is a warning. Twenty-six years sounds like plenty until you convert the years into days: nearly 9,490 of them, spread across roughly 322 more full moons. By fifty, you have already spent two-thirds of an average lifetime. The years remaining arrive one day at a time, and none of them come with a guarantee.

Average life expectancy in the U.S. is often summarized in the mid-70s, with men typically lower and women typically higher. Somewhere inside those years waits a last conversation with your spouse and a final visit with your parents, a goodbye you will not recognize as final until the moment has already passed. Nothing on your calendar warns you which day holds the goodbye.

The numbers matter because they strip away the illusion that time is an endless resource. They do not merely ask how many years remain; they ask what those remaining years are being spent preparing for.

Death ends every earthly account, finished or not. The apology you keep postponing and the project still sitting half done on your desk matter nothing once death closes the book, regardless of how the rest of the story stands. More than an ending, though, death performs an extraction: the separation of your spirit from your body, so the real you, not your job title or your bank balance, moves into a world your five senses were never built to measure.

The manner of death rarely matters. A heart attack or a slow disease only supplies the method, and neither one changes what follows. What arrives after the extraction is the only detail worth your attention, and Scripture states the ending in blunt terms:

"For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, ESV)

Most of us assume another day is coming, especially right after good news arrives: a clean report from the doctor or a new marriage. Good news, and the joy attached, adds no days to your allotted time. You already know someone, or know of someone, whose death arrived despite a new wedding ring or a promotion letter still sitting on the counter.

So here is the real question, the one most calendars never make room for: what is your relationship with God today, not in the version of your life you plan to build after this next milestone? Death carries no bias and negotiates with no one. Your degree, your job title, and your bank balance hold zero value on the other side of the extraction. What matters instead is whether you have met the one requirement for eternity with Jesus Christ.

Scripture returns to this appointment again and again:

"And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment." (Hebrews 9:27, ESV)

"So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12, ESV)

James puts the same warning inside a single image:

"Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (James 4:14, ESV)

None of this calls for despair or for hiding from every joy life still offers. Enjoy your marriage, your children, and the work in front of you, since Scripture itself commands this enjoyment in Ecclesiastes 9:7, urging you to eat your bread with gladness and drink your wine with a merry heart. The tension is not between living and dying, but between living carelessly and living prepared.

Preparation looks less like a mood and more like obedience. Call the parent you have been avoiding, or repair the relationship you have let rot over pride. Open a Bible you have not touched in years and read the book of John in one sitting, then come plainly to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, trusting Him as Savior and surrendering to Him as Lord. Do not file the question away for someday; confess your need for Him now, because someday is not a date on any calendar.

Your own remaining years may be many, few, or fewer than you imagine. No test, scan, or fortune teller can hand you the true number, which is why preparation belongs to today rather than later. Your appointment with death already carries a fixed date, set long before you read this sentence, and the only wise response is to get your soul ready now, while mercy is still being offered.

Written by Kevin L A Ewing
ewinglakevin@icloud.com
kevinlaewing.blogspot.com
www.kevinlaewing.com

"Life Is Happening for You, Not to You: What Joseph's Story Teaches About Divine Preparation"

 

"Understanding That Life Is Happening for You, Not to You"

"He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant: whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron: until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him." (Psalm 105:17-19)

God tests and prepares His servants before fulfilling the destiny He has spoken over their lives.

If someone had asked me twenty years ago, "Do you see yourself becoming a pastor?" I would have confidently answered, "Absolutely not."

Yet today, as I look back over my life, I clearly see the invisible hand of God directing every step of my journey. What once seemed like random disappointments, painful setbacks, unanswered questions, and unexpected detours were, in reality, divine preparations leading me to a place I never imagined I would be.

One of the greatest lessons I have learned is this: God often prepares us for a destiny we never planned for ourselves.

The Bible tells the remarkable story of Joseph, one of Jacob's twelve sons (Genesis 37-50). As a young man, Joseph received dreams from God that revealed he would one day become a great leader. However, while those dreams showed him where he was going, they never revealed how he would get there.

Joseph's dreams never mentioned betrayal.
They never mentioned slavery.
They never mentioned false accusations.
They never mentioned prison.

Nor did they reveal the loneliness, humiliation, confusion, and years of waiting that would precede his promotion.

This is often how God works. Sometimes God gives us a glimpse of our future, not to explain every detail, but to give us enough hope to endure the difficult seasons that lie ahead. Those moments of encouragement become the fuel that keeps us moving forward when life becomes exhausting, confusing, frustrating, and even embarrassing.

Looking back, we eventually realize that every stage of the journey was preparing us for what we would become.

Betrayal by His Brothers

Joseph's preparation began with his brothers' jealousy. Because their father favored Joseph, his brothers hated him. Their hatred became so intense that they plotted to kill him before eventually selling him into slavery in Egypt (Genesis 37:18-28).

What seemed like the end of Joseph's life was actually the beginning of God's plan.

Faithfulness in Potiphar's House

Potiphar purchased Joseph, an Egyptian officer, and made him overseer of his household (Genesis 39:1-6). His integrity, diligence, and excellent spirit caused him to prosper so greatly that the Bible says Potiphar entrusted everything he owned to Joseph. Scripture tells us that Potiphar "knew not ought he had, save the bread which he did eat" (Genesis 39:6).

Joseph's faithfulness during obscurity prepared him for leadership.

Then came another unexpected trial.

Potiphar's wife falsely accused Joseph after he refused her immoral advances. Although Joseph had done what was right before God, he was imprisoned for a crime he never committed (Genesis 39:7-20).

Prison: Another Classroom

Yet even prison became another classroom in God's preparation. The keeper of the prison recognized Joseph's character and entrusted him with overseeing the other prisoners (Genesis 39:21-23). Once again, adversity became an opportunity for God to develop leadership, wisdom, patience, and faithfulness within him.

While imprisoned, Joseph interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh's chief butler and baker (Genesis 40). At the time, those interpretations seemed to benefit someone else more than Joseph himself.

Years later, however, that very gift would open the door to Pharaoh's palace.

From Prison to the Palace

When Pharaoh dreamed troubling dreams that none of Egypt's wise men could interpret, Joseph was remembered, summoned from prison, and stood before the nation's most powerful ruler (Genesis 41). By faithfully using the gift God had given him, Joseph was elevated from a prison cell to become governor over all Egypt.

Notice what Joseph never had access to during the process: an explanation. He never saw the betrayal coming. He never knew prison would lead to a palace. He simply stayed faithful in Potiphar's house, faithful in prison, and faithful with the gift God had given him. God connected the dots that Joseph could not connect for himself.

This is the same truth I have come to embrace about my own life. Twenty years ago I could not have explained how the disappointments, delays, and detours I walked through would prepare me to shepherd others. I only understood the process in reverse, the same way Joseph did when he stood before his brothers and said, "Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good" (Genesis 50:20).

Life is not happening to you. It is happening for you. The betrayal, the delay, the waiting room, and the prison seasons are not proof that God has forgotten you. They are the classroom where He is forming you for a calling you may not yet see.

If you are in a season that feels like Joseph's pit, Potiphar's house, or the prison, do not despise it. Stay faithful where you are. God is not wasting your process. He is preparing your palace.

Pastor Kevin L A Ewing
ewinglakevin@icloud.com
kevinlaewing.blogspot.com
www.kevinlaewing.com

 

Spiritual laws level The Playing Field

It is easy to spread evil and unfairness to others, and it can be accomplished without detection.

However, even if others are unaware that you have caused their pain, loss, or disappointment, there are spiritual laws that will eventually address deceptive and malicious behavior. People often say, "Life isn't fair," or "Those who wrong others always seem to get away with it." In reality, life is fair when you consider the spiritual laws that govern it.

Certainly! Here's the rewritten text:

As a result, these statements are often made by people who feel that someone, including themselves, has been treated unfairly in a specific situation. They may not realize that whoever has wronged them will eventually experience a similar situation where they will be on the receiving end of the injustice they caused in the past. I believe that the more we study God's word, the clearer it becomes that prayer strategies such as "returning evil back to sender" are wrong on every level. As I have mentioned in many of my teachings concerning spiritual laws, laws are inherent. This means that penalties and rewards are incorporated into all spiritual laws. We are rewarded if we follow the rules and penalized if we don't.

Proverbs 11:31 says, "The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner." According to this spiritual law, righteous people will be compensated for the loss and suffering they've experienced. Amazingly, incorporated in this same law, it states that the wicked and the sinner will receive more than they originally served to others. In the following scriptures, you will see that we are not responsible for returning evil to those who have wronged us. Scripture is adamant about who that portfolio belongs to, and according to Scripture, vengeance belongs to God and Him only!

As a reminder, God said that His word can not return unto Him unfulfilled; instead, it will accomplish what it was sent out to do, Isaiah 55:10-11. In essence, when someone does wrong to others, they should prepare to be challenged, not particularly by the person; Instead, by God's word that has incorporated their penalty for the wrong they did. Let's observe the scriptures mentioned below that will reinforce this spiritual understanding.

"But he that does wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons." Colossians 3:25

"Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them" Proverbs 26:27

"He made a pit, dug it, and fell into the ditch he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own head" Psalm 7:15-16

"Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same" Job 4:8

"Woe unto the wicked! It shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him" Isaiah 3:11

I cannot say this enough. The scriptures mentioned above are indeed spiritual laws, basically prophesying the end of what will happen to those who distribute evil to others. Interestingly enough, these spiritual laws also point out to us why those who have confidence in their wrongdoings continue in their evil, and here is what it says:

"Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil" (Eccl.8:11).

This post highlights the understanding that no one is above spiritual laws, and the result of what they have done to others will be predicated on how they executed the law. While they may not be punished immediately when they have done evil, or it may appear as if they're continuing in it, the spiritual law dictates that it is inevitable that judgment will be served according to the word of God.

Kevin L A Ewing
ewinglakevin@icloud.com
kevinlaewing.blogspot.com

www.kevinlaewing.com