Time is so frustrating. When I was young and energetic time seemed to pass so slowly that my patience was constantly tested. Now that I’m old and much less energetic the days, months and years fly by seemingly in the blink of an eye. Add to that the fact that time has seemed to speed up or slow down throughout my life depending on my circumstances. At work on a slow day or sitting in church during a long sermon, time would nearly stand still, yet when I was doing something enjoyable time would fly by. A while back I caught up with a friend in the church parking lot after the noon service. We had not spoken to each other in a while so we began to share all that was happening in our lives and before we knew it two hours had passed. It is that easy to lose all track of time (and hunger) when you become engrossed.
There are hundreds of books, CDs and videos about time management. I have yet to find a single one of them that actually teaches how to manage time. Instead, they all teach how to manage priorities to help get the important things done in the time we have. I think Sam Levenson had the best advice about time when he said, “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.”
There is a story about a little boy who loved to visit his grandmother. He especially liked the big grandfather clock in her living room. He would sit on the carpet in front of it as noon approached and then count off the chimes. One day the mechanism in the clock went haywire and the clock chimed a thirteenth and fourteenth time. The boy excitedly ran to find his grandmother. “Grandma,” he shouted, “It is later than it has ever been before!” There is a lot of truth to that statement. It is later now as you read this than it has ever been before and it will soon be even later. Are we making good use of the time we have been given?
We are limited by time and space. God is not. Since He created time and space, He obviously operates outside of them. God’s timing is always perfect for accomplishing His will, but His time doesn’t always correspond to time as we know it. From the perspective of Mary and Martha, Jesus was four days late to heal their brother before he died. In reality, He was right on time to demonstrate His power over death by calling Lazarus from the grave. When we trust God to answer our prayers, we should also trust His perfect timing. No need to watch the clock or even the calendar as we await His answer.
As for my current position in time, I’m sure it won’t surprise anyone that the words of a song sum it up nicely for me:
“It has been such a long time since I started this journey,
But heaven gets closer with each passing day.
Though my feet may grow weary I won’t stumble or stray,
For He leads me each step of the way.”