A time for everything...

I looked up from my desk this morning and realized today was Friday…already.  February is half over. 

February? 

What happened to January? 

Didn’t we just usher in a new year…2023?

I know you have heard this before, but it is worth repeating.  Time seems to fly by faster as we get older.

When I was younger Time was just a word.  Time seemed to stand still, especially during school days and exams.  I would sit in class and watch the clock on the wall.  Tick.  Tick.  Tick.  The clock seemed to tick louder and louder as I watched the secondhand move.  Obviously, I wasn’t paying as much attention to my studies as I was the mechanical capabilities of the wall clock.  That is a story for another time.

This brings me back to the last couple of months.  I have been fighting some physical issues.  A migraine since mid-December to be exact.  This was a new inconvenience to my schedule.  I have delt with headaches for many years due to allergies.  Sometimes they take on a life of their own and ‘become’ a migraine.  This particular one was new.  A migraine that decided to pack a suitcase and stay for a while.   It disrupted everything in my life.  My work, my volunteer duties, my sleep, everything…  However, no matter how much my head bothered me, I kept stubbornly pushing through. For those of you who know me, I know you aren’t surprised.

Then God stepped in.

I lost a week last week.

God allowed me to be completely down for the week.  I was so physically weak I couldn’t get up and do any work.  I couldn’t do anything.  I could only sit and – Be Still.  That is what He called me to do.

He wanted to speak to my heart and show me something.  I was so busy trying to ‘get things done’ that I put myself down for not staying ahead.  Aren’t we funny how we can put ourselves down but easily extend grace to others who are struggling?  He gently reminded me that He didn’t need me to do everything.

First, He showed me behind the curtains where He was working all along but I was too busy to notice.  His people came out in droves to help.  They prayed.  They stepped in and assisted with the UME Gala and Children’s Church.  They checked in on me.  My husband blew up his entire week to care for me.  God wanted me to know I wasn’t alone.

So, I listened.  I accepted His direction.  I sat and was still.  He then spoke to me.  He sat with me.  I communed with Him.  I was able to intercede for others while sitting still last week.  Nothing got in my way of our time together.  It was beautiful.  There was no thought of time.  Time didn’t matter.  Only listening to His voice.  It was as if time stood still.

 

I experienced God in a new way.  Not that God is new.  My mindset was new.  I needed refreshing.  I needed to step aside.  He allowed me to be sick so I would listen.

How many times do we need that?

Work never ends.  The bills never go away.  The rat-race of life is moving faster as we get older.

I watched a video on social media last week while I was sitting in bed contemplating my migraine.  The speaker held up a long piece of rope.  The very end, about four inches was painted red.  The red painted part represented our life on earth.  The small four inches was our entire existence on earth.  The remaining part of the rope represented the remaining part of our existence in eternity.  That little red piece was everything we focus on. 

Birth

Growing up

Getting a job and possibly a family

Working towards retirement

Retirement is the goal…  Or is it?

Four inches of red.  

What was glaringly obvious was the remaining part of the rope. 

Are we living like the four inches of red is all there is?

Are we living like we are going to our true home someday? 

Are we living to tell others about their time here?

 

We can’t turn the hourglass around and start over.  We only have so much ‘sand’ in our hourglass.  The red four inches on the rope.  Only God knows the day and hour of our last moment.

Are we living like we are dying?

Sometimes we need to Wake Up from our slumber and step out in faith sharing our testimony with others so they can wake up too.

Sometimes we need to Be Still…  and listen to His voice.

Either way - we need to be open to listening to Him.  He will give us the direction and the words.

 

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Hebrews 9:27

Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

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