Have you ever felt time has passed you by? Maybe you had dreams or plans that didn't go anywhere and you felt hopeless in trying to recover those wasted or lost opportunities.
If you grew up in the 60's or 70's, you might be familiar with the song, Wasted Days and Wasted Nights, a pop and country hit back in the day. Or, if you're a country music lover of recent years, you would be familiar with the remake. It's funny how things like this come back around. The songwriter probably never thought his song would resurface again 52 years later.
Interestingly, this song, it’s popularity and the remake of it have such a story to tell. It was originally written and recorded by Freddy Fender in 1959. However, Freddy ran into some trouble and landed in prison for several years. When he was released, his career was pretty much over because he hadn’t been in the music scene for a while. I wonder if the title of his song haunted him during the time he spent in prison. He was just becoming known and the song was heading in the direction to be a hit …. then the arrest. Wasted days and wasted nights. Day after day, night after night of not singing, writing, performing or recording music; his career at a complete halt, his popularity plummeted.
After his release, he picked his music back up and rerecorded the song in 1975. This time it became a number one hit on the Billboard country charts and a million-selling single with a gold disc award, sixteen years later! What an amazing comeback! Imagine how incredible it must have felt to turn this seemingly helpless situation, a series of wasted days and wasted nights, into such an unbelievable achievement.
If you’re anything like me, you too have experienced some wasted days and wasted nights. It may not have been as dramatic as Freddy Fender’s, or it may have even been worse. I personally have found myself in seasons where I felt I didn’t accomplish anything, times where I truly have wasted days and sometimes years not fulfilling the plans and dreams I set for myself, or responding to a call God placed on my life. My tendency can be to become depressed about it and resolve to the fact that the time is gone forever, there is no redemption and I can never get it back. While it is a fact that we cannot redeem time itself, the greater truth is that there IS a Redeemer, and that is wonderful news!
Deuteronomy 30:3 (ESV) - "God, your God, will restore everything you lost; he'll have compassion on you; he'll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered."
The bible says that God will restore lost years. Obviously, that doesn't mean we will suddenly be zapped back to that point ten years ago before the time was lost or wasted. To restore means to bring back into existence, or bring back to a former condition. Have you ever seen a piece of furniture that's been restored to its original condition? While being restored, it wasn't taken back in time to the day it was built and then reconstructed all over again. Instead, its current, older self was brought up to match what it was originally created to be - as if it were a new piece of furniture. In other words, it wasn't suddenly brand new again, but rather its old state was brought back to a condition of newness. So it is when God restores lost years to us. Instead of traveling backward to that prior place or opportunity, He brings us forward and repositions us at a moment to seize those lost opportunities and restores us as if the years had never passed. God is always looking for a way to make sure we reach our intended purpose, that which we were originally created to be. So much so, that He gave us an assurance in His word that even when we blow it, if we surrender to Him, He makes a way and works on our behalf.
Have you experienced a period of wasted days and wasted nights? Maybe something has set you back, or possibly caused you to walk away from your faith. Maybe you've made other things a priority and missed opportunities, or put dreams on hold. I want to leave you with this final thought ... if a man such as Freddy Fender, in all his humanness, can turn a situation around and accomplish the great things that he did, can you imagine what God, in all His Diety, can do for you?
Scriptures
Joel 2:25 (KJV) - “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten ….”
Deuteronomy 30:3 (ESV) - "God, your God, will restore everything you lost; he'll have compassion on you; he'll come back and pick up the pieces from all the places where you were scattered."
Amos 9:14 (ESV) - “I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.”
1 Peter 5:10 (ESV) - "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you."
Prayer:
Lord, I can think of some wasted moments in my life. Sometimes I feel discouraged by the fact that I let that time slip away from me, but Your word gives me a promise that You will restore the things that were lost and rebuild those places in my life. I put my hope in You and ask that You make my latter days greater than my former days.
E.R. Bills, "Freddy Fender: A Man for All Seasons," Texas Co-op Power, accessed May 8, 2020, https://www.texascooppower.com/texas-stories/life-arts/freddy-fender-a-man-for-all-seasons
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