Pastor Candy Christmas | Redeeming The Time | November 13, 2025
Thiseming the Time: Strategies for Maximizing Purpose and Overcoming Wasted Years
This summary and rewrite draws on the core message of “Redeeming the Time,” emphasizing the divine purpose in every season, the strategic importance of aligning with God’s timing, and practical ways to recover lost time and focus on eternal priorities.
The Divine Purpose of Time: Seasons and Sacred Rhythms
Time is not random; it is sacredly appointed. Every day carries divine purpose, even if it doesn’t bring an overwhelming, immediate change. The Book of Ecclesiastes beautifully outlines this truth, stating that “to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”. This includes times to be born, to die, to plant, to weep, to laugh, to mourn, to dance, to love, and to hate, among many others.
You and I were chosen by God for this specific time and season in the earth and in the church. The suffering, battles, and victories experienced in life are all intended to prepare us for this season.
Understanding God’s Timing
Many individuals are waiting for God to perform something miraculous, open doors, or deliver specific needs. However, achieving fulfillment and contentment requires recognizing that God operates according to timing and season.
- Maturation is Key: God brings things into full maturation. Like a child needing to be carried full term for proper development, God ensures that when the time comes and prayers are answered, the result is “joy unspeakable and full of glory”. If the blessing arrived prematurely, it might not be fully developed.
- The Big Picture: While humans operate by the clock, God is looking at the big picture. What might seem like a delay is, in fact, God working things in your favor behind the scenes.
- Delays are Designs: God’s delays are not denials; they are designs. Corey Tenboom noted that God is never late but is seldom early—He is always right on time.
The Problem of Wasted Time: Thieves and Distractions
Most people have wasted valuable time in relationships, jobs, or business ventures that they feel could have been spent elsewhere. However, this wasted time often occurs because we fail to recognize the divine purpose in our moments.
Identifying Time Thieves
The enemy actively employs time thieves to steal our time, peace of mind, and focus.
- Scrolling and Media: Modern society is filled with time-saving gadgets (cell phones, microwaves), yet people have less time now than in previous centuries because of distractions. If one is not careful, they can “scroll” their phone and wake up from a “stouper” an hour or two later, having wasted time on television or useless media.
- Counterproductive Conversations: Conversations that are gossip, backbiting, or spiraling downward steal time and peace of mind, leaving one feeling “dirty” and “bogged down”.
- Distractions from Minutiae: The enemy uses the minutia of everyday life (e.g., a broken car, a faulty washing machine, or bills) as a distraction from understanding the times and focusing on God’s kingdom. God wants to lift believers up to a 30,000-foot view to see the greater spiritual reality.
The Danger of Distraction
God wants believers to have their eyes straightforward on the kingdom of God and their purpose. He says, “I’m removing distractions in this time and in this season”.
David Wilkerson shared candidly about wasting years in ministry by seeking money, fame, houses, and cars. His paradigm shifted when he stopped seeking what ministry could do for him and focused solely on seeking God and making a difference. His new focus led him and his family to make intentional use of their time, prioritizing reading and seeking God in the evenings.
Redeeming the Time: Buying Back and Repurposing the Past
The Bible offers an amazing encouragement: we can buy back time. The Greek word for redeem means “to buy back from loss, like purchasing freedom for a slave”.
The Promise of Restoration
Joel 2:25 promises: “I will restore to you the years that the locust have eaten”. God not only forgives sins but He redeems seasons. When you yield your present time to God, He goes into your past and repurposes it for His glory. All mistakes and brokenness can be turned around for your good.
- The Example of Moses: Moses spent 40 years in Pharaoh’s palace and 40 years in the wilderness, yet none of it was wasted. His time in the palace prepared him not to be intimidated by Pharaoh, and his time in the desert was the training ground that prepared him to lead the people.
- Your Training Ground: Similarly, the sources affirm that whatever you have been through is not wasted; God will use it for His glory and your purpose. Edmund said, “God can restore the years you’ve wasted if you’ll give him the years you have left”.