Sometimes in life, there is nothing more perplexing than the concept and reality of time.
We all face seasons in life where we think, things just aren’t happening fast enough for me.
This thought could relate to a job you want but don’t have the necessary experience to earn it yet. It can relate to relationships, money, dreams you want to fulfill, books you’d like to finish writing, the way you want your body to look, or the answers to life’s most difficult questions. There are so many times when life just seems to move at a crawl and our impatient nature is pushed to the limit.
There are also seasons in life where we think, dang, where did the time go? Things are moving much too fast.
I had this thought last night as my wife and I were at our youngest daughter’s six grade open house at her school. As we were walking from class to class, I started to think, what the heck? Sixth grade? Are we really already there? Then I started to think about our oldest who just started the eighth grade and immediately my mind jumped a year ahead. She’ll be in freaking high school next year…I didn’t see that coming so quickly!
We also may find ourselves looking at the quickness of time when look in the mirror and see more grey in our hair or that extra wrinkle below our eyes. The speed of time can relate to the food we can’t eat anymore or the bones and joints that we finally take notice of because of the aches and pains they emit. It can relate to how much our home town has changed after we’ve been away for a while, or the passing of a loved one that we thought would always be there. It can relate to the new technology of the world and where it’s going. When I was born in the 80’s, computers were so big in size sometimes it took multiple rooms to hold them. Now I’m typing on one small enough to fit on a desk, while another sits in the pocket of my jeans.
Yes, time can be complicated and frustrating.
It can move too fast and too slow and sometimes both at the same time.
But a blessing that each child of God shares, is that God has the ultimate control of our time and knows best how to use it, and when to allow things to happen in our life. You see, it’s all a part of HIS PLAN for each of us. We just have to be willing to let things happen the way He wills, and in the time of His choosing.
That’s easy enough to do, right?
Of course not.
Like I said before, it’s in our nature to be impatient…and if we’re being honest…for most of us it’s in our nature to be controlling as well. We know what we want and we know exactly when we want it. We don’t want to have to wait for things or situations to develop in our life, but we also don’t want to be caught off guard or surprised if something seems to be happening too quickly or comes out of nowhere.
It’s all about our comfort and our way.
But that’s not realistic is it?
No, it’s not.
It’s not, because God has created a world that unfolds according to His own timetable and not ours. It’s not, because God is not concerned with our comfort, but instead our character. He expects and desires us to want to trust in Him and what He has planned, and hasn’t He earned that trust from us? I believe so.
Let’s ask Him to help us remember that He is never too early or late…but instead He’s always on time, and will always have a will for our lives that is far greater and more meaningful than anything we could come up with for ourselves.
In the end, whether it moves fast or slow in your perception, time will always move forward and you along with it. The way we avoid taking for granted every beautiful second of the life we have on earth, is to not stress out about controlling it so much. Trust and faith in Jesus with the WILL of our lives, will supply us with all we need to make the most if it.
“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.”
