I often find myself fighting against an immovable force. No matter what I do or how I maneuver, there is no way around it or through it. This force feels like my enemy, yet I do not want it to disappear. This force is merciless, plodding onward and dragging me with it. If I could slow it down, move freely within it, or somehow control it then perhaps I could eek out some kind of victory. Yet as much as I fight it, I cannot make time bend to my will. Each day has 24 hours: that’s 1440 minutes for me to make use of, but they must be wisely divided between family, work, friendships, hobbies and recreation, and sleep. To give too many minutes to one of these areas means another does not receive the time it requires; however, I so often find that this is exactly what I do.
Time is a precious commodity. I recognize that I only have so much of it, and I want to squeeze everything out of it that I can. But doing so means that I become out of balance. Where do I sacrifice? Sleep? Family? Friends? Rest? Life seems like a race against time, and instead of wisely using what has been given to me, I fill my schedule beyond full in the hopes of “winning” and in the process, accomplish nothing. This is overwhelmingly the human condition. We are the human race: ever racing against the clock in the hopes of squeezing just a little more out of life.
“We are the human race: ever racing against the clock in the hopes of squeezing just a little more out of life.”
God knows humanity struggles with living in a balanced way. I can put too much focus on productivity or too much focus on relaxation, but God said, “Six days you shall do your work, but on the seventh day you shall rest…” (Exodus 23:12). He placed work and rest within their own frames. He did not put one above the other; he said I need to be refreshed…but I also need to work. This is a great life principle that I try to live by. Six days to be productive and a seventh to recreate. Six days to try my best and a seventh to lay it all in God’s hands and recognize that he is in control. Six days looking at right now, and a seventh to look forward to the ultimate rest: the day that I find myself before God’s Son, Jesus Christ, who made a way for me to live forever in his rest one day. You see, I cannot beat time here on earth, but the Master of time has invited all who will follow Jesus to join Him beyond time when their days on the earth are finished.
“I cannot beat time here on earth, but the Master of time has invited all who will follow Jesus to join Him beyond time when their days on the earth are finished.”
If you want to find out more about how Jesus sets time right, let me buy you a coffee and we can talk. Just send me an email.
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Pastor Stephen Valcourt.
This article first appeared in the Pincher Creek Echo.