Time

Time....

that unit of measurement that let's us keep track of how long we are doing something or when to meet at a certain place.  

To runners, time is everything and discussed in terms of PR (personal record).  It determines if you are getting better or falling behind, if you need to train more or train harder, whether you win, or whether you lose.

Some say time has no end and others say that time flies!  Enjoy life while you can because when your time is up, it's all over.

In scripture we find this in Ecclesiastes 3, about time:

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.

 

 That pretty much covers the lot, right? 

 

At some level, we all have an obsession with time...time to go to college, time to get a job, time to start a family, time to retire and enjoy our grandkids, time to spend with loved one before they pass on.  

 

For me time has always been an elusive idea and there have been times when I have failed to meet the time deadlines that I have given myself or have been imposed on me by others.  It took me almost 20 years of on-again, off-again schooling from 4 different schools to finish my Bachelor's Degree.  Cara and I got engaged early but then had a long engagement to allow her to finish school.  We were married 8 years before we adopted E and 10 when we adopted L and then at 18 we had Z which was the same year we each turned 40.  

 

Even though I was called to ministry early in my teens, it wasn't until I was almost 33 that I accepted my first full-time ministry position with a church.  I was there 4 years and since have been seeking another ministry position that God has designed me to be successful in, seeking His plan and His perfect timing!

 

And that's just it; God's perfect timing is always a mystery but is always perfect.  His timing for Moses to lead His people out of Egypt was perfect.  In Esther chapter 4 Mordecai tells Esther that she will not escape the wrath that will befall her people just because she is queen and lives with the King, but instead is it not for just such a time as this that she is there by God's hand?!  His timing for Mary and Joseph to have a baby was not convenient for them, but delivered to the world a savior in Jesus who would even ask His Father that if the time was possible to let 'this cup pass me by" but instead was obedient to the point of death on a cross to provide salvation to each of us if we just accept it in time.

 

Yes...His timing is perfect.  I have experienced that this week.  For the past 5 months I have been in a place of transition.  I cut back to part-time in a position I was in and decided I would leave that position at the end of May when my contract was up with that company.  I left my volunteer position at church to focus on seeking His plan which after much prayer and discussion appeared to be becoming a missionary with the Central Florida Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization.  It is a position that requires you to raise your own support and I have begun that process in order to move onto staff as soon as I raise the needed funds.  In the meantime, I had taken on another fulltime position with a company that promised a slight increase over my previous salary plus an opportunity for additional commissions.  I felt like it was a good fit and a safety net for if my support raising opportunity didn't work out.  

Needless to say, I got so busy trying to cover all the things I was trying to do, that raising support took a back seat and I found myself 4 months into with only raising $100.  Additionally, I was not experiencing much success in terms of additional commissions supplementing my salaried position, so I was pretty much 'losing' at everything I was trying.  My frustration level was rising and I was feeling disconnected from God.  

That is where this week came in...At the beginning of the week I had a conversation with a trusted friend and leader within FCA that was encouraging and I left that meeting asking God to show me if He wanted to me step away from my 'full-time' position and focus my efforts on raising support so that I could step into this position on FCA staff that I still felt He was calling me to.  I asked my friend to pray about this also and we agreed to meet again next week and see where I was at with it and see what answer God had responded to our prayers  with.  Two days later, I was still struggling with this and I spoke with Cara about it and we discussed pros and cons and tried to figure out if we could make it work.  That same day, I was texting with my FCA friend about support opportunities to investigate when I got a call from my supervisor letting me know that the 'full-time' position company was going to have to let me go.  The poor guy delivering the bad news was somewhat emotional about it and kept apologizing over and over for it, but at that moment, I felt a great sense of peace and a weight lifted off my shoulders.  

See His timing is perfect and even though in the past few months I have struggled to follow His exact plan by trying to 'take care' of myself with another job that only cluttered my mind and made me too busy to focus on what He had for me, God didn't abandon me or even 'let me go".  In fact, He said, Kris, this is my perfect plan for you and to get you to understand that it is perfect and that I will take care of you if you will follow Me, I will take away those things that are distracting you, like this job.  He helped me see in this one moment that I only need to rest in Him and follow His plan and He will take care of me.  It doesn't mean it will be easy or that I don't still have somethings I need to give up or get rid of so that I can focus clearly on His plan, but it is once again Him showing me that He loves me in spite of the things I do or the ways I can be stubborn and selfish trying to do it my way.  Cause see at the end of the day, when the clock strikes 12, I want to stand before Him and to hear him say, "well done my son whom I love".  

So as always it comes down to me being able to rid myself of the things that are not a part of His plan and to make myself, 'more like him'!  till next time, keep seeking more Him...