WRITTEN BY MICHELE HANSEN
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
Ecclesiastes 3 (NIV)
What is one of the most precious commodities in this life? I think there could be all sorts of answers to that question. I think time is one of the most precious. No one ever has enough. We can’t take out an IRA of time and have it building interest so we have extra if we need it. When you think about it, you have something that once spent, you won’t get it back. Been thinking about how I’m spending my time.
Where does the time go? It gets spent. Time. What a concept. We don’t know how to imagine what it would be like if we existed apart from the boundaries of it. We can’t fathom it. But God exists outside those boundaries…He created time. He made it, we spend it.
There’s a “For King and Country” song (What are We Waiting For) that has a lyric in it that says, “Why are we wasting all the time like someone’s making more…” I have to admit, that’s when I started thinking…
God talks about time, well, all the time in the scriptures. I think about how Jesus, the Son of the timeless God, was bound by time when He was on the earth. Did He remember what it was like to be outside the constraints of time and flesh? As a man, bound to the effects of time, He was conceived, grew in the womb, was born, grew and became a man, all on the “Chronos” (exact time) time clock. His death was recorded in time…for all time. Then He left the constraints of time. Three days (time) later, He entered into time again.
Kairos time, on the other hand, is about the right season or occasion. Mathew 26:18 is an example of Kairos time.
“As you go into the city,” he told them, “you will see a certain man. Tell him, ‘The Teacher says: My time [kairos] has come, and I will eat the Passover meal with my disciples at your house.’”
If we have established the fact that time is outside our control and we cannot escape the effects that time has on us, then I think it is a precious commodity that we need to think about when we are spending it.
We spend time. We all get the same amount. There is not one human being that corners the market on time. We can’t save time, like we say. We can’t make (more) time, we can’t stop time…but what are we saying when we talk about how we spend time? Time was created to be spent.
In Ecclesiastes the writer says, “There is a time (Kairos) for everything under the sun…” a time to live, a time to die, a time to do this and a time to do that…everything we do is either on the clock or in a season, but all of it is dictated by a God who knew we needed boundaries that we could thrive in.
Here is another peculiar aspect of time. Waiting.
By it’s very nature, waiting is spending time…well…waiting. We wait for all kinds of things. We wait for a train, we wait in line, we wait for spouses, we wait for spring, we wait for appointments. Some things are routine waiting things. Other times, waiting takes on another intangible…hope. We sometimes throw that word around willy-nilly as well. We hope things will turn out, we hope we get this or that. But when we are in a waiting season with the Lord, we need hope.
God gives us what we need in the waiting seasons. It’s those seasons where faith grows, and trust deepens. We can either grow wiser or get bitter while waiting. What are we spending our waiting times on? Because we are still…spending time.
Whether we are spending our time waiting, spending it in fulfilling activities, in a season or looking at the clock, the Lord gives us opportunities to grow. As believers, we are to be growing in godliness and allowing the righteousness of Christ to be more and more evident. There is no wasted time with the Lord.
When we surrender our times to the Lord, He will fill it with all the things we need. We may not always understand, but the Lord assures us that our times are in His hands. After all, He created it so He knows how to use it.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I admit, we may not have a concept of what it means to be “out of time.” I think that’s a scary thought sometimes. Help us to manage our time according to your plans and desires. We pray that you would teach us to “number our days, that we may gain wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12). Please show us how to make the best of the time You have given us because we don’t know what a day will bring. (Proverbs 27:1). Thank you, Lord, for your wisdom and grace to us. Thank you for teaching us to rely on You and trust You with our lives. Thank You for the perfect amount of time.
In Jesus Name
