What time is it?

Are we going to be on time?

How much time do we have?

Time, it is such an important part of our lives, especially as Americans. We always seem conscious of the time, running out of it, what we are doing with it. Our lives are controlled by time. God has made everything beautiful in its time.

“What gain has the worker from his toil? I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.” (Ecclesiastes 3:9-13)

Interestingly though, God is not bound by time. “With the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8) He does things in His time. He has created the order of all things for His purpose and has made them beautiful. He knows the beginning from the end and what lies in between. God has perfectly designed what happens during this time on earth.

We, however, are bound by time and want things done in our time. We can’t see God’s time, because His time is eternal. Our hearts long for that, but we live in a world bound by time that is not eternal. As God’s children, we have the capacity for eternal things. While we understand our promised end, we want to have an understanding of the beginning and what takes us to the end. We want to understand how God is at work in our time, but also realize that we can never fully comprehend God’s plan in entirety.

God has set eternity in man’s heart. He has created time in such a way that it cannot bring fulfillment. The only fulfillment for our hearts comes from Him. We live in the routine of time, but our hearts are designed to long for something eternal. God has intentionally created dissatisfaction in life to drive us to Him. In life God does offer things that bring joy – eating, drinking, family, friends, events that bring delight. These He offers as a gift but are not meant to be self-sufficient. Our sufficiency comes from Him.

So, what do we do with our time? As we wait eagerly for our time in eternity, take joy in the time God has given us here on earth. Live in a way where our experiences in life point others to the eternity they can have with Him. When waiting on God’s timing, trust Him in the journey and the timing He has set for events to take place. Our hearts need to be bound by God’s time as we wait on Him.

In His Love,

Susan