no time was lost

People often wonder why things happen in life the way they do. They hope for the best, but only slightly better happens; or great things happen for them and they feel they don't deserve it. I often wonder these very things.
"I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) He tells this to His people in the midst of life's struggles. It's the same with parents: they have the best plans for their children and know they will one day get there, but things happen along the way--unexpected things--and they think that all is lost. The Lord does not see it this way.
He allows us to make our own choices. These choices lead to different ways of getting to where we need to be. And where is that exactly? Good question. For me, it's being involved in ministry, serving people (including my family), knowing I am making a difference in someone else's life. For you, it may be different. But all the same, we belong in the plan that He has for us.
In The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I believe C.S. Lewis is trying to communicate this very thing. In the end, Aslan sacrifices his life and does whatever it takes so that all 4 children may take their rightful place on the throne. They reign and then the most astonishing thing happens: they are lead back to the wardrobe, of which they had long forgotten, and are sent back to the moment they left the wardrobe. No time was lost.
It is the same when we spend time with God, building a relationship with Him, growing at phenomenal rates, however, never losing a moment of time. Often, we forget where we came from. But it is important to go back to when we first opened the wardrobe door, to when we first experienced His presence, and found ourselves in an exciting land filled with awe and wonder. Those moments are the most precious and must never be forgotten. They must be revisited, for it is those moments that intrigued us that will intrigue others, bringing them to a place where they may experience it for themselves.