“Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” (Matthew 6:27, NIV)
When
we consider the natural world, we begin to realize that time hides from us many of the Creator’s
most spectacular miracles. Some are too split-second for us to perceive;
others are too gradual to appreciate.
For
instance, on one hand, consider a single beat of a hummingbird’s wing (up to 80
per second!). On the other hand, ponder the sculpting of the Grand Canyon.
Or
think of the human body. Each simple function is a chain of interworkings,
incredibly complex, yet almost instantaneous. But just as marvelous is the
transformation of a microscopic egg into an adult human being, capable of
reason, imagination, love, work, and worship. (Growth seems to be God’s favorite
miracle. Up close, it’s invisible. From a distance, it’s breathtaking . . . too
beautiful to rush.)
We are locked into the present, with narrow notions of fast
and slow. We are caught in the blindness of time, space, and self. The Everlasting One blesses us, and we
do not see Him coming or going. We fail to trace all the wonders of Him who is
unhurried and unhindered by time, reigning in eternity. To the Overlord of all
the ages, the Master of each moment, nothing is fast or slow. Time is not
a barrier or a restraint, but a tool wielded by His wisdom.
How foolish, then, for us to pretend to be masters of our
time. We frantically try to control what we cannot control. Rigid, rushed schedules are our
attempts to bring productivity, consistency, and balance into our confusion and
fatigue.
But
the Lord reminded me years ago that time
anxiety is as foolish and unproductive as all other anxieties.
Anxiety blocks our free and open response to God’s moment-by-moment leadership.
Worry produces only tension, selfishness, and insensitivity. It chokes out
love, gentleness, and joy.
Turn
to one of the Gospels in the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John) and read about Jesus. Notice that while He
had so much to accomplish in so little time, He never rushed.
He was busy, but He never seemed tense or hurried.
That’s
because He focused on only one priority: following His Father’s leadership step
by step. Each moment was in His Father’s hands, so Jesus simply did as He was
directed to do and worked as He was enabled to work.
Our Creator, our Father gives us the same privilege. We don’t need to juggle our priorities
and obligations in our own wisdom. God wants us to lead and balance our lives
by his wisdom. He calls us to listen and respond to His leadership regarding
time. We are to use our self-discipline there rather than toward our own
arbitrary schedules. As we
do, He breathes natural balance and joy, a peace and productivity into each
moment, of both labor and rest. He slips accomplishments into
our schedules that surprise and delight us.
He
is personally with you always. He would be delighted to guide and provide for
your time needs. This is just one more area in which He calls us into a closer,
more constant fellowship with himself.
God’s
gifts are practical. They are more satisfying than we have tasted or imagined.
He invites us to discover them all.
God is never in a hurry.
He is the master of time,
not its slave.
Walk with Him in His peace.
Hymn: I Leave It in Your Hands
