Time

Imagine a time where life moved just a little bit slower. Where people smelled the roses because they knew that there was time to spare. Where you had just a few extra moments with your loved ones. Where maybe we could go back and fix our mistakes, set things right. Maybe we would see the signs a little sooner and be able to help them before it was too late. Maybe the world would grow to be a better place.

Can you see it?

As I’ve grown older, time only accelerates and all I want to do is slow it down. Its momentum doesn’t fade. And yet even as I come to terms with this, I’m also realising something that it’s taken me nearly seventeen years to learn. We have to live in the now.

In this moment.

Not next week, not next year, not even tomorrow or yesterday. We’re intended to live right now. Not filled with worry or uncertainty; but with confidence, knowing that not only our future, but also our past and present are held in much safe hands. I’ve always been the one to think ahead years into the future and plan about where I’ll be and what I must do. But the fact is that none of us know what’s coming. We can’t see the future. We can’t. And we need to stop trying. When we live dreaming up what may happen next we lose sight of what’s happening right now. God is working in our midst, opening doors, closing windows. Look up and see what He’s doing.

Trade in your fear for peace.

These times are full of change. I’m not one that loves major changes. I love the way things are right now, and I don’t want this to change. Some things are out of my hands. But right now is in my hands. Right?

No.

Time is out of our hands. Viruses, wildfires, tornadoes, and the like rage around the world. And yet, it’s not to be feared. It’s only change, after all. Even this will pass. Now is no time to fear. Now is the time to be bold. To show compassion, hope, and light in a world that doesn’t believe in it. To be different. Be the one that loves the unlovable, the sick, the lonely, the hurting. This world is longing for something more. It aches for the chance to hope again.

That’s why I believe there’s never been a more exciting time to be a Christian.

We have this treasure in jars of clay not to store away in vaults but to share with the world. Just a spark of light is enough to put a dent in all the darkness imaginable. If we were intentional about showing Christ even when everything we’re familiar with is in upheaval… our impact would send shockwaves.

Time is precious.

Not one of us can know how much of it we have left. That’s why we need to make the most of now. Take the chance. Burn the ships. Take risks. Be vulnerable. Take the leap of faith. No matter what may come our way, even if our clock runs out tonight, no amount of time will ever be able to make us regret it.

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:1-8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Advertisement