Time

Time is such a funny concept isn’t it? Some people seem to have it, while others don’t. Some individuals pay constant attention to it, whilst others they live by their own clock regardless of others around them. You can be late for an appointment, but when you get there you can realise that you’re a week early. You can put all your time into a project, and still miss the deadline, and yet still ask the question whether you could’ve done more. You can live in the moment, whilst looking to the future; and if you save for the future, is it possible to live in the now.

For the past few years I’ve heard countless preachers talk about some of the conundrums of the Bible with great eloquence, but when asked about questions of God’s timing, they shrug their shoulders. They refer to the phrase “the now, but not yet”, like it’s the one-size fits all answer to the great questions we have.

We live in a world that says, “live for the today”, and yet the Bible talks so much about eternity-a ‘tomorrow’ that doesn’t end.

As a father to a child who has an incurable terminal disease, I often think about the time that I have left with her. I lay on the bed whilst putting her to sleep, as she snuggles in and falls asleep whilst nestled into my chest. I hold her close and feel her body rise and fall with each breath thinking of the past, taking in the now, and not thinking of the future too much as it represents a potential pain to come. I wonder what time looks like for you? Is it something filled with joy and hope, or does it represent a pain to come?

I mean, for something we have no control over, we sure do think about it a lot.

The classic Ecclesiastes verses talk so much about “a time”. A time when we shall experience so much contrasting emotions, the time when we should look through the lenses of life differently because of the emotion that was on our hearts. It’s those moments that define us, change our outlooks, and hold us accountable to the decisions that we choose next.

I don’t know about you, but when things look gloomy, my mind often turns to the worst-case scenario. It’s in these times when all else fails, one of the few verses in the Bible that comforts me is Psalm 23 vs 4.

“Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

For me, it’s the simple fact that God is with me. It’s the simple fact that when I go through the hardest of times, and no matter how alone I feel, I know that God sees my pain, he sees my tears, and he feels my brokenness – and he is with me in the present.

In your brokenness, what is the thing that helps you? What is the thing that reminds you that God is there? And how does that pull you into tomorrow?

 

This week, join me in praying for:

  • Children and young people who do not see a way out – that they may find hope, and people to walk with them in the now.
  • Families who have loved ones who have “little time left”. Help them to make the most of every situation.
  • Swindon youth for Christ as we work in the now, look to the future, and stand with those who have hurts from the past.
  • Addy Clarke, my very own daughter, that God would heal her both spiritually and physically.
  • Churches that they find urgency in sharing the good news that God has given us.

Written by Dave Clarke, Director for Swinodn Youth for Christ