Time. What does the word mean? In the Merriam Webster Dictionary alone, there are 15 different definitions of time as a noun, and several more as a verb and an adjective. But what does time really mean to you? We’ve all heard of the phrases “the passing of time”, “time is a thief”, “don’t waste my time”, “turn back the hands of time”, “it’s time for a change”, “out of time”, “spare time”, “on time”, “make time”, “as time goes by”,”just in time”, “time flies”, and even phrased a bit differently by the White Rabbit in the book Alice in Wonderland. As he goes running through Wonderland with his very large timepiece, he calls out “I’m late, “I’m late, for a very important date” Why do we tend to put so much focus on time? And how much have you really thought about what time means to you?
Time is something that as children we often want to rush. I can remember waiting to get just one day closer to summer break, one day closer to Christmas, one day closer to whatever fun activity that it is that me and my friends wanted to do. It seemed like I was never going to reach the ripe old age of 16 when I would finally be old enough to drive a car. I can remember thinking that the days were so long when waiting for these things, or it seems like the ride took ages when getting to a vacation destination. Yet, after the activity had been done, or the vacation was completed, it seemed like getting home didn’t take much time at all. I can remember counting my age in half years. I would always say “I’m 12 and a half” or whatever the current age was. Does anyone else remember doing any of these things? I imagine there are many of you that did, and that some memories for sure came back of various things that you had forgotten about over the course of time.
Time is funny like that. It seems like when we are younger, we are always wanting time to speed up. As college students, or young adults, we seem to think there is never enough time in the day to actually complete all the things we want to do. After getting married and having children, there are many times that we feel stuck in some kind of time warp, where the days often seem the same at the beginning. Days of learning how to be a parent, staying up at night with our children, caring for them when they are sick, and things such as that. When our children are infants, we seem to want time to speed up just so we can hear them talk and see them walk, (and let’s admit it- we even just want them to be old enough to sleep through the night so that we can too). Then we realize what we asked for when time truly seems to speed up, and life becomes so crazy we don’t even know how we complete all our activities in the time we have during the day. Those kids do start to sleep through the night, walk, and talk, run and play, and grow even more. Ball practice, games, church activities, maybe even dance or gymnastics start happening, and if we aren’t careful, we will get so caught up in the craziness of that period, that we will let time pass away from us, and unknowingly forget to savor those moments. Finally those kids start becoming teenagers, and we start wanting time to slow down, because we realize they will soon be gone from our home and leading a life on their own. Time itself truly does seem to fly at times, while at others, seems to move at a snail’s pace. Yet time is the same always. Time itself never changes. Sixty seconds to a minute. Sixty minutes per hour. Twenty-four hours per day. Seven days per week. Fifty-two weeks per year. It’s us that change. it’s us that look at time so differently. It’s us that hopefully come to realize that time is precious.
Has anyone ever heard the phrase “in the blink of an eye’? The actual definition is something that happens very quickly, or in a very short time. Or, for an even more descriptive definition, it is something that happens in an instant. Did you know that researchers have actually recorded the length of time that it takes for someone to blink? According to their research, a blink takes 100 milliseconds. For those of you who might want a little better description, a millisecond is one-thousandth of a second. I don’t know about you, but I’d say that’s pretty quick. My entire life, I’ve heard different people say that your life can change in the blink of an eye. I am not sure that anybody really understands what this means, until they have an event that does just that. Maybe that realization for you came with the birth of a child, the loss of a job, maybe an injury, surgery, or other illness that wasn’t expected. Maybe it was the loss of a loved one, or someone you love moving away. Whatever it was that caused you to realize how quickly that life can change, you understand how precious time actually is. It isn’t meant to just squander away, yet how many out there spend their entire lives doing just that? How many of us took too long to realize that God has a purpose for our lives, and we must be purposeful in the way that we live it out?
Time is such a valuable commodity. It is something that ticks on by the seconds, yet is something that most of us think nothing about. We just go on about our days, where time is not really on our minds. My daughter, who has Down syndrome, asked me the other day, “mom, why does time go by so fast? ” And I think, that in her own thought processes, even she realizes how precious that time actually is, as time is something we talk to her about quite a bit. If you’ve ever lived with or worked with a special needs person, you’ll know that most of the time, their sense of time perception is different than most. And most of the time, we are telling her she is wasting time with some of her daily habits. (Anyone that knows her, knows that she sets her own speed for most things). So, for her to realize that time does seem to fly by, makes us realize even more that time is truly precious. I mean, it seems like she was just born yesterday, and I blinked, and she is almost thirty now! Truly, where does the time go?
As I was writing this blog, God lead me to the book of Psalm. Psalm 90 is actually a Psalm of Moses, and the entire chapter is about how our time on earth is limited, and how we should use that time wisely, and with our eternal home in mind. Psalm 90 verses 10 and 12 reads like this:
Psalm 90: 10,12 NIV 10- The length of our days is seventy years- or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away. 12- Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
I actually really like how verse 12 reads in the NLT version as well:
Psalm 90:12 NLT Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.
Something I have found for myself down through the years, is that I always seemed to feel that if I had any amount of rest or down time on my hands, I felt that maybe I wasn’t doing all that I could do, and wasn’t using my time wisely. I know what it is like to feel like you can’t rest because you have things to do, or you can’t take the time to refresh for fear of what others may say. Or maybe you actually try to take the rest time, but are made to feel guilty because of it. But I have come to realize through my life with CRPS, where I have to take time to rest, because I won’t be able to physically function if I don’t, that it is actually the other way around. That all the rushing, the cramming of things into the schedule, and just the general rushing around of life, is not using our time wisely, and is not healthy for us in the process. God doesn’t want us to be so rushed, and our schedules so crammed full, that we feel guilty when we take the time to just rest, enjoy time with our families, or spouses, our friends, and to spend time in prayer with him. God doesn’t want us to feel like we have to fill every second of our day with stuff. When we do that, we can’t hear what he has to say, and we can’t do what he wants us to do because we don’t know what that is, because we never stop to listen to him speak to us. God created the world in a time span of 6 days, and on the 7th day even God rested, and he directs us to do the same, not to work, squander or rush our lives away in busyness, but to take that time to renew and refresh. How many of you have rushed around so much you’ve missed things in your family’s lives? How many of us have truly thought that all the rushing around, and all the craziness was not only an ineffective use of our time, but might have all been done without thought of our eternal home in mind? Maybe you are one who never takes the time to stop and refresh, to spend time with your children, or your family. Maybe you are a Christian who doesn’t spend as much time in the word as you should. Whatever the case may be, I urge you to learn to take time to slow down, stop the constant rushing, and rest and replenish yourself, not only physically, but spiritually as well. I speak all of this from experience, so please believe me when I say that you will be a better person for yourself, your family, friends and God, if you’ll just take the time that you need to live thoughtfully, and with purpose, taking time to care for those things that are important.
Genesis 2:2-3 NLT On the seventh day God had finished with his work of creation, so he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
I hope that this blog spoke to you in some way, and has encouraged you to make changes to your daily routine if needed, to spent time with those you love, to spend time in the word, and to let God give you a heart of wisdom as each day passes. See you next time! Elizabeth
Hebrews 4:16 NIV Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Grace for Every Season 