- Time is a funny thing. You’ll hear “time flies” or perhaps “time waits for no man!” That’s the way I feel most of the “time.” Especially on a Friday, I’ll feel like “time” has caught up with me. I see the sofa full of clean clothes. I think “that living room is small enough without me turning it into a laundry room!” I will get caught up tending to the baby, or entertaining Chloe, and realize it’s gotten late in the day. There are still chores to do, errands to run, and of course, I still want a little “time” left over at the end to just do nothing. A favorite quote is “time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” This week has been full of fun, wasted time. There’s been a lot of playing outside and tons of swimming. Yesterday to expedite our eventual trip out to the pool, Chloe told me, “Momma. Bailey just told me she wants to go swim with Mommy and Chloe.” The kid is learning quick how to use her sister, and Bailey is barely 6 months old. I hate that I fall victim to being a slave of time. I recall the time I spent living in Barbados. The locals never allowed time to control them. They were easy going and relaxed. They got somewhere when they got there. Things got done when they got done. This drove us uptight Americans crazy! I would love to incorporate me some of that Bajan relaxation though.
- There’s another aspect of time that I struggle with. God’s time. I remember as a young girl being angry with God when my relationship with my boyfriend ended. I had felt like that boy was the man for me. Even when I prayed, I felt like God said he was the man for me. This only confused and angered me further. That boy is now my husband. It took over 10 years, but it came to pass as promised. I pray a lot. I don’t just pray before meals or at bedtime or just when someone asks for prayer on Facebook. I pray all day. It’s more of a continuous line of open communication between My Father and I. I revere Him, but I also feel confident to converse with Him. I give thanksgiving. I pray for others. I pray for my family. I pray for my hopes and dreams. I pray for the ministry for Ben and I that I feel God placed in my heart way back in 1997. He gave me dreams then, and gives them to me now.
- The thing is, I fall victim to time control again. I’m sure I’ve blogged on a version of this before, but like any human, it’s something that burdens me so I must deal with it repeatedly while God refines me and works it out. Today I had something frustrate me, and as I stewed over my plight, I felt like God was trying to tell me something. So, I took the cotton out of my ears and listened. One thing that really resounded with me was when He asked, “Are you willing to wait for me?!” I use the exclamation point cause He said it quite forcefully in my head, and I felt the weight of the point He wanted to get across in its fullness. The thing is, He’s never let me down. His promises are perfect and genuine. I may get stuff wrong, misread His signs occasionally, or more frequently, misunderstand His time table, but His character remains steadfast, and His word remains true.
Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. (NLT) ( Ecclesiastes 3:11 )
His timing has always been perfect. It’s always had my best interests in mind. We humans, especially westernized ones, are always in a hurry, and wanting things done now! I want my laundry folded, dishes done, and milk bought and put in the fridge now! I want my desires fulfilled now! I want my ministry dreams to come to pass now! Then I stop. My ministry? No. My desires? Well, He placed them in me. In all actuality, everything I am, and all I want to be, is because of and for my Lord. Therefore, I think I should trust His timing. The Alpha and Omega can see further than I could fathom. He has planted a beautiful seed in me. I will relinquish control, and allow Him to cultivate my growth, in the perfect season, to bear the most fruit.
That is all 🙂
[…] struggle with this foe who consistently tries to evade me, running off before I’m even aware. Time. For some reason, no matter how much I try to go with the flow, I am consistently a clock watcher. […]