Time...there is something so strange and mysterious about this seemingly simple reality of life! Why is it that we demonstrate both an overwhelming interest in and also a fearful dread of the reality of time? Through every stage of history, every season of life, every career we pursue, and every breath we take, we feel the reality of time pressing in around us. We cannot escape it, but how we choose to embrace its truth has a huge impact on how we live each moment.
The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of 60 minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is! --C.S. Lewis
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 describes the passage of time in this way:
"For everything there is a season,
and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace."
All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given us. --J.R.R. Tolkien
"For everything there is a season." Isn't that such a beautiful reality? There is something immensely comforting about the regularity of the seasons. We don't doubt that summer will arrive with its relaxing pool days, sweet summer sunshine and the freedom of vacation. We never pause to question whether or not the fall will bring the rustling of leaves, the bright yellow school buses, or the regular routine of class schedules. We are quite certain that with winter will come chilly mornings, warm mugs of cocoa, and sparkling Christmas lights. We look forward to the reality of spring breezes, delicate blossoms, and sweet smelling flowers. Isn't it strange that we so often struggle with trusting God's sovereignty over EVERY area of our lives, when we are so content to accept His control over the seasons? No matter what events take place that threaten to alter our reality or redirect the plans we have, we can always be sure that God is sustaining every season of our lives.
How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? --Dr. Seuss
As I have gotten older, I have come to appreciate a deeper sense of time's passage. I remember so vividly the little shoes lining the mat by our front door. Over the years those shoes have grown rapidly in size with their owners. They are not so little anymore! Not only are they larger, but the different seasons of life can be reflected in the status of the shoes. There are sure to be small shoes, worn and dirty with holes in the toes from little bikers. Next to the tattered sneakers one can find Dad's office shoes lined up, shiny and clean, tied tightly with perfect laces (as only an engineer can)! To the right of those will be Shaila's bright pink converse, starkly contrasting with the boys' muddy sneakers. Even my own purple flip-flops will have transformed over the years into dark brown heels and wedges. So many different personalities...so many different styles...so many different stages of life found on a dusty shoe mat!
Old Time, that greatest and longest established spinner of all!…. his factory is a secret place, his work is noiseless, and his hands are mutes. --Charles Dickens
Even the world of entertainment loves the topic of time! One of my favorite Marvel movies also has one of the most complicated plots. The delicate intricacies of time travel are explored endlessly in "Endgame." Our favorite superheroes travel in and out of time and space, exploring alternate realities. The Hulk says nonchalantly, "If you go to the past, then the present becomes your past and the past becomes your future." We are left scratching our heads and laughing with wonder at the complicated questions that rise out of exploration of the quantum realm.
Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. --Bill Keane
There are definitely days when I the pressure of work, school, and major life changes make me long to return to the sweet simplicity of childhood. Wasn't that just yesterday?! Looking back through my elementary, middle, high school, and college years, I can feel a sense of the "tides of time." There are stages in our lives which feel like they will never end, just as there are moments we wish we could hold onto and capture forever. Time doesn't ever stand still! Yet isn't there something wonderful about about looking back on the "good" and "bad" times to see how God has orchestrated His plan for our lives? It is a wonder to see how He has used every silent tear, every moment of laughter, every cry of pain, and every thrill of joy to accomplish His perfect purpose.
Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change. --Thomas Hardy
Life changes so quickly, and as we grow older it becomes so precious. We don't know what the future will hold, and this past year has taught me that I truly need to make the most of every word I speak and every plan I pursue. Over the past year, I have watched our world respond to the effects of a pandemic. I have felt the pain of loneliness as moments spent away from loved ones stretched into months, and quarantine drew a sharp divide between my dearest friends and family. I have experienced the joy of welcoming new life into the world as I held a precious baby taking her very first breaths, and I have battled the devastating reality of saying goodbye forever to my great grandmother as she breathed her last. As this school year has approached, I have watched my siblings open up the same textbooks I once held on my own lap. In contrast to the regularity of Omnibus, Apologia science and Saxon math, I have purchased my college course books for the last time. It seems like every day I have seen news of friends I used to play with becoming engaged and beginning life with their new families. Stages of life that once seemed so far away have rapidly approached and passed on in my own life and the lives of my closest friends.
Never leave ’till tomorrow which you can do today. --Benjamin Franklin
Time is truly a gift--a wonderful reality we experience and a tool we are given to use as we live out the lives God has intended for us. Whether I feel ready for it or not, I am about to begin my final semester of nursing school! The changes in my life have filled me with a fearful, joyful sense of anticipation and uncertainty. Even a few months ago I had never felt the strong emotions that have overwhelmed my heart. Yet in the midst of the unknown that looms before me, I have also experienced a beautiful sense of peace and assurance as I see how God has worked to bring me closer to Himself in the midst of it all.
Over the best weekend of my summer (spent with Patrick, of course :) ) I remember him asking me whether or not I had days in my life when I felt like a new stage was beginning. I reflected on this a lot, and I tried to pinpoint days which were especially significant to me: the day I found out I had scoliosis, the day I decided to go to Covenant, the day I decided to leave the campus that had captured my heart to begin nursing school, the day Patrick asked me to be his girlfriend...All have marked turning points in my life. I can honestly say that I never would have imagined any of these days on my own, yet they have all grown me immensely in my faith and in my love for the people who hold the dearest places in my heart. I would not exchange any of them for the world, and I know I can rest in confidence as I leave the future to God and focus on living out each moment for His glory.
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength. --Corrie Ten Boom
I will close this post with one of the most precious chapters of the Bible, one which has comforted me through the most anxious periods of my life when the future has threatened to overwhelm me. I pray these verses bring you the same immeasurable peace they have brought me:
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these..." --Matthew 6:25-29
Rest in this promise!! Take joy in the future: God already has it planned :)
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