This next year...
Monday, December 26, 2011 God designed times and seasons for man, not for Himself. Time doesn't exist for God, and He is not ruled by time; He is timeless. To God, the only time that exists is the right time.
Like many good things, however, time can become a tyrant. God desires to teach us how we can tame the time tyrant and make time work for us. His desire is that we live and walk as Jesus did, where time does not rule us, but we surrender to His timing.
Each day seems to present time pressures that can create stress and anxiety within us. Jesus warned us about this and exhorted us to deal with today and let tomorrow take care of itself. He wasn't saying we shouldn't plan, per se, but not to trust in our plans or let our plans rule us. We are to walk as Jesus did.
Satan, on the other hand, does everything he can to use time against us. His desire is to get us so busy and distracted that we wind up doing with time what we do with our money. Instead of giving God the first fruits of our time, talent and treasure, we give Him (and our families) the leftovers, if there are any leftovers. We can get so busy 'serving God' and 'providing for our families' that we neglect the most important treasures we have: Him, our family, and our friends.
It's so easy to justify building empires while our families languish. When they say, "All we want is you!" we can forgive their naivety because we know that we have to work hard to build a foundation for our futures. But, do we? I believe that God will help us do both at the same time, without having to destroy either. Sadly, it seems that each person has to learn this lesson through suffering rather than just trusting our Mentor.
The pace of daily life is like a treadmill that ever so gently, gets faster and faster until you either have to jump off or it throws you off. You are in control of how you spend your time! Don't tell God you don't have time for the things He's given you stewardship over. You have the time or He wouldn't have given them into your care. And, if you don't care for them you will lose them.
This next year is going to be a wild ride in a myriad of ways. I encourage you to take a good, hard look at how you spend your time, and what results you get for that time. The more gadgets made available to us potentially eat up more and more of our time with no good thing to show for it. If the gadget helps you deepen your relationship with God, your family and your friends, maybe it's worth it. If it doesn't it's probably hurting it. Like all things: there is no gray in life.
Give God the thing you will never get back: time! Your use of time will have more to do with your future than practically anything else. Think about this: This is the day that the Lord has made! While you rested, He was up all night preparing your day, directing His angels to minister to you and His Spirit to guide and teach you. Learn to listen to Him and follow His lead. He knows how to fit everything in that's worthwhile. And, He'll probably ask you to put a few things aside. Will you let Him?
Forget about resolutions. We all break them as fast as we make them. Wake up each day, humbled by the gift of life, and walk into your future with the One who not only knows your future, but He's already building it!
Follow, listen, and obey. No matter what the new year brings, you're covered, you've got time, and He will help you prosper in body, soul and spirit. Viewing the world through His eyes, the world has no idea what it's doing. God knows what He's doing. And He knows why He's doing it.
Peace in Him, to you and yours.
Reader Comments (1)
Thank you so much for this post, Pastor Chris! God really spoke to me and convicted me through it. As a fellow cancer battler, I found your blog through the betaglucan site, and I am so glad I did. I continue to hold you and my family in my prayers. Godspeed, Christy