Let me challenge you to think about time. I'll point out two ways time challenges us.
First, our position as humans imprisons us to time's relentlessness. Our bodies will not last on this earth forever. In that sense, time marches on, increasingly inflicting its scars throughout our lives. We experience pain, loss, grief, tragedy, and the fallout of sin on a regular basis.
Ecclesiastes 1:4 says: A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
We enjoy parts of life. Celebrations, accomplishments, championships, birthdays, God's unmistakeable work in our lives - yes to all! But none of it lasts, or will last forever.
Second, time often frustrates. When in a hurry, who wants to stop at red lights? That's what I thought. Of course we don't. We often want answers quickly. God often works the opposite. Since God exists outside of our concept of time, we often fail to understand His delay. Except, He's not delayed at all, we just think of it that way.
So in the first sense we are not oriented to this world in a lasting sense of time. In the second sense we will never understand the time situations take to resolve, or the time it takes for ourselves or others to grow. We certainly won't understand long suffering.
Long suffering you say?
See Galatians 5:22-23. But the fruit of the Spirit is...and on this list we find patience, faithfulness, and self-control. All of these take an understanding of time beyond our human expectations. Only God can truly bring the fruit.
Do we orient our experiences toward eternity?
Do we trust God with timing of life events, no matter the situation or how we feel?
Time can be nasty. Trust can trump time's press on our lives.
In Christ,
Pastor Kevin