My 6 year old daughter still sometimes confuses last night, yesterday and the day before yesterday when she wants to convey a past event and she often adds "remember mommy, it was a very long time ago" - I can only smile. Over the past couple of days I have been thinking about how little understanding we (as adults) really have around the concept of time. Our daily lives is a constant struggle to adequately manage the load we carry and to divide the sum total of that load into accountable minutes out of our day! There are many times when I have to think about how the time I thought I had, literally slipped through my fingers. As Christians we should all be living with the hope of eternity in our hearts - where time will never end - and that reality is difficult to grasp while here on earth, where we run against the clock every day.
With every birthday, anniversary, start of a new year and so on, I get a little nervous, knowing the end of my fleshly life on earth approaches and the thought that always seems to plague me is...what have I done with my life so far? The truth is, most people seldom reach the dreams and goals that they aspire to and my view is that this is because they are OUR dreams and goals and not necessarily God's plans for our lives. In the Bible in Jeremiah 29:11 the prophet utters words that tell us what God's heart is for each one of us "...for I know the plans I have for you. Declares the Lord." We all have been given a "measure" of time as Jesus stated in Matthew 6:27 "Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Knowing these truths from God's word must set us on a different course. It must propel us to search out God's acceptable path for our lives.
When we make wrong decisions in our lives we create what I call "time waste lands" (pun intended)! Think of it as barren, dry places in your life that could have been avoided by making better choices. There is however always a "but God" turnaround opportunity. He will use the most horrific waste land times in our lives to show us His great saving grace. He can turn around your ill spent time and turn the rest of your life into minutes and hours of worth. Along will bad choices, consequences will inevitably follow and many times once the crisis is over, we are left with painful emotional wounds that need attention and healing. God is so patient with us. If we truly seek Him and want to follow the plan that He has for our lives, His healing power can transform hurt and suffering in a much shorter time than we would expect.
Have you ever uttered the words...I will never get over this! Or, I can never forgive and forget. You need to know that God is a limitless God. Luke 18:27 "What is impossible with man is possible with God". So I will encourage you to spend your time wisely, make your decisions carefully and prayerfully and live with the hope of eternity in your heart everyday.
Blessings.
