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Father Time -- Giving the Clock Back to God

by Christine G. Law

"To everything - turn, turn, turn 
There is a season - turn, turn, turn 
And a t'); document.write('ime for every purpose under heaven"
     ~ The Byrds, 1965

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

It seems that the seasons com'); document.write('e much faster as I get older. It used to be that spring took a hundred years to melt the frost of Old Man Winter\'s coat.'); document.write(' Now, as I rush about my day-to-day routine, I am constantly wondering where all the time has gone? It is inevitable tha'); document.write('t at the end of each day there remains at least a dozen unaccomplished tasks on my list of things to do. There is never '); document.write('enough time for all of the must do\'s in my life.

A Time to Build Up

When I was a child, I used to lov'); document.write('e to erect tall buildings with those colorful wooden blocks that my Papaw insisted were meant for boys only. I\'d spend h'); document.write('ours meticulously adding one block at a time so as to color code each section perfectly. I could usually time my brothe'); document.write('r\'s entrance right down to that final moment when I set the last block into place. He\'d run screaming into the room and '); document.write('pounce on my masterpiece with the gleeful malice of timeless sibling rivalry. He\'d laugh. I\'d cry. And, the cycle would '); document.write('begin all over again.

As an adult, I often find myself attempting to color code all of the obligations in my lif'); document.write('e as I carefully categorized those wooden blocks so long ago. I have an obsessive need to have everything around me in o'); document.write('rganized bundles -- but life doesn\'t always work out that way.

We live in an increasingly busy world. Everythin'); document.write('g is fast-paced and on-the-go. Even our food is pre-packaged and pre-cooked. Modern technology tells us when to rise, wh'); document.write('en to eat, when to sleep, and in what order to do each. Our bustling capitalistic society no longer recognizes the worth'); document.write(' of leisure. Instead of quality, our lives are increasingly packaged into quantitative parcels and measured by how much '); document.write('more of ourselves we can give. It no longer matters whether our time is valuable, only that we squeeze out more of it in'); document.write(' menial obligations.

A Time to Break Down

I have often noticed that it is those times when I am out of'); document.write(' sync with my surroundings that I miss out on my relationship with God the most. It begins slowly with a missed prayer o'); document.write('n a rushed morning or a hastily blessed child at bedtime when I am at my most exhausted. Before long, the entire family '); document.write('has lost track of the Lord\'s presence in our home.

The reality of modern society sneaks in to do its damage whe'); document.write('n we are at our most vulnerable. It begins with a skipped breakfast and the promise to pick something up on the way. A f'); document.write('orgotten lunch is remedied with a grabbed snack from the vending machine.
A broken curfew excused by an empty gas tan'); document.write('k.

Satan has many devices for tempting the preoccupied soul. We need only let our guard down the tiniest bit an'); document.write('d the king of chaos reigns supreme. When we lose sight of God, we lose sight of our priorities as well. When our resolve'); document.write(' falters, insecurities slip in to wreck havoc on our neat and orderly lives. Before we realize it, we are in a rat race '); document.write('with no apparent finish line in sight.

A Time to Let Go

Mother Teresa of Calcutta once said "God does '); document.write('not ask us to be successful, only that we be faithful." If we turn our eyes, our minds, and our hearts back to God, succ'); document.write('ess will come. It might not come when we expect it or desire it. Rather, God will provide what he thinks we need at each'); document.write(' turning point of our lives. We must remember that our time is not our own. We are given time here on earth as part of a'); document.write(' bigger picture. Our journey begins and ends with our Lord as the timekeeper.

It is difficult to remember that G'); document.write('od is ever present when we are frazzled and feeling rushed to accomplish all of our set daily goals. Letting go and lett'); document.write('ing God tends to become a last resort rather than regular habit. In those times, we need to take a deep breath and refoc'); document.write('us. We can keep God at the helm of our lives if we but take tiny measures to make it happen.

If God is in contro'); document.write('l of our clocks, then we need not "make time" for the Lord. With God as our timekeeper, He is ever present for us to tur'); document.write('n to. He is but a breath away to help us through another hectic day. Father Time opens our eyes and closes them. What we'); document.write(' do with the time allotted us in between depends on who is in control of our clocks.


Life Applications:

Do you feel rushed through each day? Have you asked for God\'s help?
How can you change your patterns/habits to '); document.write('make God a bigger part of your life?
Is God your timekeeper? Have you given him control over your life?
Remove yo'); document.write('ur watch and allow Him the next few minutes of your time. Pray for his guidance and control.


Copyright 2003 '); document.write('by Christine G. Law
All rights reserved.


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