If God Is Timeless, How Can He Operate In The Universe?

 God is always relative and timeless in that time is not of the essence as far as He is concerned. He is not the slave of time nor defined and confined to it as He created the time-space continuum that we are limited to and can not escape. God is the same yesterday, today, and forever and relative to all time and no time in particular. He related to us in time and has entered time for our sakes to speak to us and intervene in our affairs. Providence rules over all events, things, persons, and creatures—-creation with not even a maverick molecule or toss of the die outside His sovereignty.

Thus He orchestrates all history for His own plan and will. He beholds all time in one vision or concept without reference to any limit because He is eternal and had not begun in time but is outside time. It should be pointed out that God entered history in the person of His Son Jesus. He not only operates in the universe but controls and manipulates it to His will and purpose.

A Christian Concept Of Time...

Time can be understood as a “corollary of space and matter,” both necessary for time to exist. Therefore God is above time for He created matter and preceded it. It’s the effect of these forces acting on each other. For instance, gravity bends time according to Einstein’s general theory of relativity. History has been described as an endless or infinite series of efficient or finite causes.

The law of cause and effect says that all events have causes and there can be no effect that is uncaused. (Note that God’s name can be interpreted as I CAUSE TO BE). Time is therefore caused by a preceding event and is an effect. Stephen Hawking proposed not only the beginning of time but its end.

The Bible says that all things began at creation and that there was a beginning to time per 2 Tim. 1:9 and Titus 1:2. And the law of causality necessitates effects to follow and not precede causes because there can be no uncaused effect. Effects and events can not be undone and therefore time cannot be redone or gone into reverse. What happens, happens. What’s done is done! Time does not go back any more than an effect producing a cause rather than the cause producing the effect.

Entropy (the Second Law of Thermodynamics about the transfer of energy constantly into less usable forms) is the continuation of the wasting away or wearing down of energy and undoing of a cause, the effects of time on matter/energy. The cause of the Big Bang (which itself was presumably caused by God as theists see it), for instance, is being worn down as far as the amount of energy produced, and eventually, there will be no useful energy left to produce any more effects. The causes will end and time will end too just like it presumably began at the Big Bang. Time takes energy in other words. It can be seen as the energy clock that began at the Big Bang and is winding down.

There is no constant feeding of new energy into the cosmos but only wearing down of what’s in it because it’s a closed system (not to be renewed with fresh input of energy.) Time is a matter of quantum physics because it seems to cease at the point of absolute zero, and it cannot be studied under scientific methods and within scientific parameters.

God must be totally in control and sovereign or He is not God or the Lord. There are no degrees of freedom but God controls all and there is no final or absolute freedom beyond which God allows and decrees as His will. Our so-called freedom doesn't interfere with His power to control or sovereignty. Entropy is worked into and is part of creation, but in the new earth and new heaven, there might not be a closed system but a constant filling of new energy making it possible for time to go on forever without end. Things will not grow old like our bodies!

If God Created Time And Space, How Can He Exist Without Time Or Space?

 The Creator is greater than His creation. God must exist to create! Nothing can just happen without cause all by itself. Even science knows something existed. Because He’s eternal from everlasting to everlasting, the Father of time or time/space just doesn't exist apart from the material world of matter/energy. No one knows what the concept of time really is but God is not confined, defined, nor limited by it.

He can see the future as the present all in one moment because of this. God is immaterial and therefore doesn't need space or time as He is not part of the time-space continuum. God is spirit and that means immaterial and not having any physical limits; therefore, not time or space dimensions (God is ultra-dimensional and can enter any dimension He chooses; I AM WHO I AM WHO I AM ….. He decides the terms of His existence which are infinite and incomprehensible to us: the finite cannot grasp the infinite by definition; this can also be interpreted as I CAUSE TO BE.... (God as the First Cause or Uncaused Cause). 

Even science knows that time (the energy clock) began at creation (the Big Bang) and that something or someone must have “existed” before that due to the law of cause and effect; everything that begins to exist has a cause—the universe began and therefore was caused and most likely by God. For nothing can cause or create itself. Soli Deo Gloria! 

Time Is God's Creation And Tool ...

 

(I’m catholic) How can god have an infinite past? If the past was infinite wouldn’t existence cease to exist? Shouldn’t there be a beginning point?

Karl Broberg, Blogger/Bible teacher (10+ yrs), researcher, life coach

Answered 10h ago

“Every house is built by someone; God is the builder of everything” (cf. Heb. 3:4).

There is only a beginning point to all things that exist in time itself—the time-space continuum. NB: if everything has a beginning, nothing would exist—something must be eternal; namely, God by definition. But time had a beginning according to science and even the Bible (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2). Read A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking.

Time is the corollary of space and matter and doesn’t exist independently of them. No existence of matter means no time. Creation was the beginning of matter and space and therefore time. Some call this the big bang, which is highly regarded by cosmologists, astrologers, and astrophysicists today.

Just because we have a beginning point at creation, we must not jump to the conclusion everything had a beginning (out of nothing, nothing comes). Then there would be a time when nothing existed. By definition, God has no beginning and according to the Bible, He has no beginning and no end the Alpha and the Omega.

His name is I AM meaning He is complete in Himself and just is in Himself and needs no one or nothing else to exist (cf. Acts 17:25).   Theologians call this the self-existence or aseity of God.  He is the eternal I AM who changes not (with time or anything else according to Malachi 3:6). If He had a beginning, He could not be God, but be the slave to time as we are. as an effect or needing something.

If time were infinite with no beginning, we would not be able to arrive at “today”; you cannot cross an infinite amount of time in a definite period. But God is eternal with no cause and not defined by time, space, or matter. God is not defined, limited, nor confined to time. The only way you can be eternal is to have no cause and not be the effect of anything.

The universe had a cause because it’s an event: all events have causes. Everything that begins to exist, an event, namely here the universe, has a cause. But God is the “uncaused cause” or First Cause (how Aristotle described God).   Uncaused causes can exist in logic but not uncaused effects or events. All causes have effects but nothing can be its own cause or cause nor create itself.

Before creation or the big bang, only God existed because He is outside the time-space continuum. The Bible clearly begins: “In the beginning God ….” That is the beginning point, not a way to begin a narrative but necessary for the narrative; i.e.,  not “In the beginning matter/energy.” There’s no other rational way to begin reality. The first verse of the Bible tells of the beginning point: Creation. Genesis means “beginning.”

In His Time; He Is The Timekeeper! ...

"My times are in your hands," (cf. Psalm 31:15, NIV). 

Remember: God invented and created the time-space continuum  (time being the corollary of space and matter) and that we are captive and limited to; therefore God escapes the confines and limits of space, matter, and time as a consequence of being the Creator not part of creation.  Ecclesiastes says that God makes everything beautiful in His time (cf. Eccl. 3:1). That was especially true at the advent of Christ in the fulness of time when everything was prepared and ready. It can be said that God is not limited or defined by time because He created it and it can not confine Him as we are to the four dimensions.  He is above and beyond and extra-dimensional as it were however, God entered history and continues to orchestrate it as the unfolding story of man's divine redemption in real-time. 

With God, time is not of the essence; He has all the time in the world! He never wastes time but uses it according to His decrees while He perfectly orchestrates history and micromanages the world's time-keeping. With God, time is everything and His timing is perfect! Jesus was born in the nick of time when it was His time and everything was ready including the prophecies.  Likewise, we must seek God's timing and realize He never tarries and will do everything according to schedule and plan. 

There is a time for every purpose under heaven and God calls us especially to "wait on the Lord." Our life is to be of expectancy! We may be in a trial and must learn patience as God had patience with Israel in the wilderness and the exile and in the captivity.   Thank God that He can relate to our sense of time because He entered our dimension of time in the Person of Jesus and experienced our weakness. Jesus actually stepped into time, which He created!   We must certainly learn God's patience. God will also meet us when we are ready and knows the best time for us individually. When Jesus was incarnated, it was a special work of Providence when God chose purposefully to intervene in our lives and history.  We must also look to our visitation as to Jesus stepping into our lives and intervening in our personal time. 

We must have faith in God's timetable that He knows what He's doing with His time, for we are living on borrowed time!  Since God is never early or premature, but on time and never late or postponed or canceled, so should we strive to be godly. He is on time all the time with no partiality and preference to change it for someone.  Things always happen according to His Plan and He needs no Plan B for  His will is destined to happen.  

Part of being human is a sense of time and of eternity; some live in the past and some in the future and both are cheating themselves of their lives in real-time.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Don't Put God In Your Box Of Convenience!

"... 'I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed'" (Is. 57:14, HCSB). 
".., 'Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it' ... 'This is the gate of heaven'" (Gen. 28:16, HCSB).   

We all tend to limit God naturally because we are limited in our perspective of reality.  But God cannot fit into our boxes or definitions. He is beyond analysis and description!  To define God to your specs is to make Him one-dimensional and that cannot be, for He is infinite and that means we cannot fathom His limits.  No adequate definition of God has ever been penned, we cannot define Him nor describe Him fully or exhaustively, but we can know Him truly!  The first Greek ancient philosopher, Thales, the father of Western philosophy, was asked to describe God and he couldn't.   The Bible doesn't attempt to describe God either, but to make Him known.

The ancients could only conclude that God must be eternal, infinite, and immutable as well as immaterial to be God at all!  The Latins said that the finite cannot contain or fathom the infinite! God doesn't measure up to your personal specs in your calculus!  But the infinite can penetrate the finite and that's what happened, so we can know Him; this is why the Bible never attempts to fully describe God, but only to make Him known and knowable.  '

There are many ways we put God in boxes:  when we just see God as our Savior, or our Lord, simply as our Father without being our Provider,  or without Him being our Judge or Maker to be accountable to.  People who know little doctrine may see Him as the "man upstairs" or "the Great Spirit in the sky" or even the "Sentimental Grandfather, or Father Time."  Seeing Him as our Santa Claus or Genie is also going down the wrong road, and many prayer warriors make this mistake in their prayers (the purpose of prayer is prayer and getting God's will done, not in making petitions like giving God a wish list--it changes us, not God.

God is the Creator of the time-space continuum, which means He is outside His creation and has all-mighty power over it as the Creator, not an enslaved creature like us as part of creation! With Him, time is not of the essence and is no factor.   God's immensity refers to the fact that He cannot be limited by space--He is fully everywhere all the time, which is interpreted as necessitating that He is just as much in one part of the cosmos as another and not any less so--as Christians, we believe in the God who is there and also the God who is in us!  What a wonderful truth:  as big as God is, He can come to live in our hearts so that we can experience His eternal, divine, unconditional love!

God is also eternal and outside the time limits that we find ourselves limited and defined by.  He doesn't think in terms of time like we do because it's always "now" with God--eternity past and eternity future are the same--but He is able to act and function in time for our benefit so that we can know Him. Jesus made the leap into the time-space continuum with His incarnation and became limited with our constraints in His humiliation and kenosis or the emptying of the independent usage of His Deity. Yes, God is "not far from any one of us" (per Acts 17:27) and He also dwells in the heavens and "inhabits eternity" (cf. Isaiah 57:15)!  He is there, and He is not silent, according to Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer!  

We must never ask ourselves or others, "Where's God?" but "Where isn't God?"  And more appropriately:  "Where's the church?" We must always tell ourselves that God did something about evil--He made us!  It was wisely said, "What's wrong with the world?  I am.  Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton."  God chooses to live through us as He inhabits our hearts: His heart to love others through, His voice to spread the good news; His ears to listen to those in need; His hands to lend a helping hand to the needy and destitute--anyone in our orbit who needs our aid is our neighbor and we are to be Good Samaritans.  "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing," it has been wisely said by Edmund Burke.

We must attribute three seminal traits to God for our salvation though: His love that cared about our plight and condition; His holiness that necessitated Him to accomplish it; and His justice that had to be satisfied in Christ on our behalf--all three must act in accord and unison for our redemption. 

God is big!  In fact, so big He holds the universe in His hands as the hymn goes:  "He's got the whole world in His hands..."  He is able to roll up the heavens like a curtain and to create a new heaven and earth at will!  God is so big, in fact, that everything, by contrast, is small and trivial; all our petitions and requests are as nothing to His infinity and magnitude.  Caveat:  It's not how big our faith is but how big our God is--faith must be aimed high!  Let's not just attempt great things for God, but expect them!  (cf. Willliam Carey's sermon).

Luther accused Erasmus of having thoughts of God that are too human!   We tend to see things from man's perspective:  How big is your church? Or, how big is your ministry?  God sees potential even in the small matters!  We never worry that our concerns are too trivial when we realize how big God is because it's all the same to Him!   Nothing too big for His omnipotence; nothing too trivial for His love to escape His concern for us.   Soli Deo Gloria!

In The Beginning...

Note that the Bible doesn't start out "once upon a time."  But we have to commence somewhere!  In the beginning what? That's the million dollar question!  My premise is that God is the genesis of everything that exists and He's the reason for everything, truly being above and beyond.   Athanasius said that "the only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point."  This makes sense because the humanist wants to begin with man as the measure of all things and explain everything from there, even explain away God--dethroning Him, exalting man, giving him the glory and robbing God of just worship.

The Bible begins with the phrase "In the beginning God" for a reason:  This is not just a way to begin the Bible or story of man, God and man's relationship with God, but the beginning of all logic and sense as we can know it.  The opening verse shows God taking the initiative in reaching out to man in creation, revelation, and salvation.  God has stepped into the time-space continuum and entered history on our behalf to rescue us!

You have to begin somewhere.  Imagine if there was no beginning!   What if everything was eternal and had always existed--scientists have disproved this, but wouldn't everything be perfect by now?  They say that matter cannot be destroyed or created but only transferred to other forms.  Someday scientists claim there will be a "heat death" of the cosmos when all usable energy is depleted., proving a beginning to the cosmos.   But the Bible says that God created everything out of nothing, ex nihilo in Latin. Humanists want to explain away God and remove Him from life's equation and they don't see Him and His place in the big picture--glory to man in the highest as man makes a name for himself and gives himself all the credit.

Time by definition is the corollary of space and matter and is relative, and if matter and space didn't exist, neither would time.  Time actually had a beginning at the Big Bang because that's when the cosmos began.  God pulled the trigger and started it all into motion and therefore is outside the time-space continuum.  He had no beginning and is, therefore, eternal and cannot have a cause, for He is not the effect of anyone or anything and needs no one for His existence, therefore being self-existent.  There are only three possibilities for the beginning scenario:  In the beginning God; in the beginning matter/energy; in the beginning nothing!  Matter in its natural state is chaotic and without form and must be organized, just as the Bible says:  "the earth was without form and void...."  We must have an intelligent input to get to organized life as we see it today--for we observe intelligence!

Don't jump to the conclusion that everything had a genesis; we cannot say that everything had a beginning because then there would be a time when there was nothing and the axiom goes:  ex nihilo, nihil fit in Latin or out of nothing, nothing comes!  We could have nothing today if everything had a beginning!  And so we conclude that God is that being that had no beginning and started the motion as the initiator.

The issue is whether mind precedes matter or matter precedes or is superior to mind.  The reason is that the logical order is thinker, thought, action, object or creation.  Matter or energy cannot create or organize itself for it is disorganized and needs the missing ingredient of intelligence to develop life and complexities.  How can matter/energy/quanta be self-conscious on its own?  Whence life forms?  What we see today is highly complex forms of matter which would've required an intelligent design or Designer or Intelligent Input. This is referred to as the argument from design.  Thought requires a thinker!  That's where the Bible comes in:  In the beginning, was the Word (Logos or expressed thought in Greek).   Mind did, therefore, precede matter and not vice versa!

Now God has revealed Himself in general revelation so that everyone is without excuse to know of His existence.  The Bible is not unhistorical, unscientific, irrational, unbelievable, incomprehensible, or unverifiable.  If you dehistoricize it you destroy and discredit, for it's the only Scripture-based in fact, truth, and history and has never been disproved in any way.   The resurrection, for instance, is a historical fact, and is the most attested fact in antiquity by various and multiple proofs:  Luke said many infallible proofs.  The point is that the Bible invites you to discover it for yourself and test to see if the Lord is good on your own.  The proof of the pudding is in the eating!   I don't have to prove the Bible, it proves itself, the skeptic can prove it by reading it with an open mind and willing spirit.

We don't commit intellectual suicide to believe in God's explanation of the beginning.  It's actually the inception of all coherent, rational thought.  In the final analysis, where you begin determines where you'll end up; taking God out of the equation only leads to chaos because cosmos minus logos or logic equals chaos or confusion!     Soli Deo Gloria!  

What Is Earth Made Of?...

I'm not a scientist, and I certainly don't espouse "scientism," or the belief that science is the only valid source of knowledge, but I do believe that science can find facts, just like the Bible has scientific facts in it without having any scientific absurdities or known mistakes--where the Bible does make scientific statements, it's accurate; though it's not a science manual (though there are several instances where the Bible's knowledge is more advanced than that of current science).  We must make use of all sources of knowledge:  rationality, empiricism, experience, logic, history, philosophy, and revelation from God.  Ultimately, all information is contingent upon its presupposition, and all knowledge depends ultimately upon God, the source.  As Augustine said, "All truth is God's truth."  All truth meets at the top, he would say!  That's why the Bible has the roots of every major academic discipline and has something to say to initiate the study of each one from philosophy, science, logic, ethics, history, economics, theology, psychology, sociology, and even politics.  All these academic endeavors have their fulfillment in the person of Christ.

Science can demonstrate that energy and matter exist, but when they allege that this is all there is, they are presumptuous (you cannot prove a universal negative), such as Carl Sagan saying, "The cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be."  That is a philosophical or theological statement not in the prerogative or domain of science to make.  For instance, when science says that miracles are a violation of natural law, they are saying natural law is God or has His power and that there is no Almighty who is the Lawgiver and is not bound by natural law but can overrule it at will.  And so the question of miracles is really a philosophical and theological one, not a scientific one.

In addition to energy/matter/quanta in the time-space continuum (time being the corollary of space and matter), we see information, design, order, and plans in our cosmos from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest galaxy.  Christians adhere to spirit.  New Agers believe in energy in everything, in fact, everything having a spirit and the existence of a Great Spark of life.  How can one not see the Anthropic Principle on earth, with its many contingent laws and nature's conveniences and not see God's handiwork?  "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork!" (Psa. 19:1, ESV).  Napoleon was asked why he believed:  all you have to do is look to the heavens--"Who made that?"   "The theory of an eternal universe is untenable!" Scientists assume the big bang and "a brief history of time" itself--which the Bible verifies (2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2).  Steven Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time postulating this hypothesis.

Logic will tell you that if there's creation, there must be a Creator.  If there was a beginning or Big Bang, then there had to be a Beginner or One who got the big bang going.  The Big Bang was so fine-tuned that even slight maladjustments would've made the anthropic principle impossible.  One can also reason that there is a plan because of a Planner, a design because of a Designer, order because of an Orderer, and a purpose because of a "Purposer." Just like you assume an artist looking at art and an architect looking at a building ("For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything," cf. Heb. 3:4, NIV).  Now, think of all the information out there!  Carl Sagan said that he'd believe in intelligence if we would get a message of information from outer space.  Well, there's plenty of intelligence on earth to look at to assume a Great Intelligence: every living thing as DNA or the fingerprint of God and is encoded with information, showing "intelligent design" or ID (the human genome has as much info as an entire set of encyclopedias).

Now, the ultimate dilemma or issue:  we have information, which necessitates thought, which necessitates a thinker!  A mind assumes a Higher Mind (the Logos of Scripture) and scientists don't dare go there because they want to deny His existence.  The logical order of events is this:   Thinker, thought, and then, finally, object or thing comprising forethought, design, or plan.   One of Einstein's earlier statements was that God was a "pure mathematical mind." To some astronomers, the universe appears as one gigantic mathematical equation!   Whether one believes in a personal God or not, there had to be a First Cause, Prime Mover, or Causa Prima, of Aristotle, and logic tells us that eternal regression and crossing infinity are impossible: everything cannot be contingent, but there must be something that needs no one or nothing and is not contingent for the chain of events to begin!  We say this because, according to logic, nothing can create or cause itself, and nothing just happens or appears without a cause.  One rule says that everything that begins to exist has a cause--God had no beginning and no cause and the universe began to exist and had a cause!

In sum, we must start with God and explain the universe, not the other way around!  "In the beginning God..." and "In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  We must start somewhere with the missing ingredient of information and its Creator, or Thinker--the Ultimate Mind!  Point to ponder:  "The only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point."  (Athanasius).   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Sin Of Doing Nothing

"The best use of a life is to invest it in something that will outlast it."  (William James, psychologist).
"[M]aking the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16, NKJV).


Sloth, indolence, or acedia is known as the sin of doing or wanting to do nothing (laziness) and is better known as one of the so-called seven deadly sins of Roman Catholicism.  Analogous is spiritual inertia or getting slack spiritually and losing discipline.  It's hard to get motivated sometimes!    Inertia is one of Newton's laws of physics that says a body at rest tends to stay at rest and a body in motion tends to stay in motion!  We expend most of our energy just getting motivated and started just like when rockets launch and use most of their fuel just getting off the ground.  But we all need times of spiritual, mental, and physical R & R but we can get carried away and lose our work ethic. We love to take it easy and be entertained or have a diversion but often too much for our own good.  That's why God instituted the Sabbath (meaning "rest") to be taken on the seventh day of the week as God did so after Creation and hallowed it. "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God," (cf. Heb. 2:9). 

Today according to New Testament custom we are not under the Law to go through any strict observance of the Sabbath; therefore, we are not to judge our brother on his conscience.   Everyone should keep their faith to themselves and not judge.   In principle, as a rule of thumb, any OT command not reinstituted in the NT or repeated is not valid; for example, the only command of the Decalogue not repeated for Christians is Sabbath observance.  It is not mandatory for Christians, but they are free to exercise their own faith and conscience.  It is clear from Neh. 9:14; Ezek. 20:20; Rom. 15:4, and Col. 2:16 that Sabbath laws are not binding for believers and Christians ought not to judge one another on what he believes.  NB:  The Sabbath was originally meant as a sign for Israel only, though the principle is always intact.

It is wrong to believe that early Christians changed the Sabbath to Sunday in honor of or tribute to the Resurrection and called it the Lord's Day--this was their day of church gathering but it is clear from Scripture that Sabbath observance was never enforced in the early church.  The Sabbath was originally a sign for Israel to mark it out as God's nation-- its original intention was for man's benefit, not to be a burden ("the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath").  Though we are not under this kind of obligatory observance the principle of periodic rest remains and if we neglect it, it will be to the detriment of our wellness. 

If we don't observe this principle (and don't realize that life is more than work) we will pay the price in a possible nervous or mental breakdown and God will force us to lie down in green pastures so to speak.  We ignore rest at our peril and any short-term gain will have long-term effects.   It takes faith to give God back the time He has given us and to realize we can accomplish more in six working days with one for rest and dedication to God than if we work all seven days.

Time is of the essence and a commodity we must value and not waste!  The Bible exhorts us to redeem the time because the days are evil and Psalm 31:15 says that our times are in God's hands---it's not our time but only borrowed from God and we are mere stewards of it.  Therefore, there is no such thing as an interruption because God is in control and fixes our schedule.  When we live in God's time and walk with Him all things go smoothly according to Plan A.  We should want God's will for our lives and don't want Him to say, "OK, have it your way!"  

Some people are so stingy with their time that they think God is worthy of only one hour of it per week while at church!  There is this saying from an ancient people that they don't like to overwork and take breaks to let their souls catch up with their bodies!  Taking a break isn't a sign of laziness but may be wise in the sense that a rested person can work all the more (efficiently).  Our spirits, as well as bodies, need refreshment and rest--we are not machines.

Now, since we are stewards of our time let us consider what people do with it:  we can waste it, find it, lose it, spend it, borrow it, save it, redeem it, steal it, buy it, kill it, share it, while it away, wait for it, invest it, enjoy it, anticipate it, remember it, fill it, and so forth, ad infinitum.  Time is indeed our most precious commodity and Ernest Hemmingway said that time is the thing we have least of. Remember, love is often spelled T-I-M-E!  We all value quality time with our loved ones and must remember we will give an account of our usage. Time flies (tempis fugit in Latin) and we cannot control it, only manage it.   As far as investing it goes,  we never lose out by giving God our time!  Prayer is never a waste of time but an investment: Martin Luther started out the day with several hours of prayer, and if he was going to be busy--he'd spend more!  This principle works for everything we own and gives back to God--He returns to us more in return (we are never the loser!).

For example, if you are pressed for time and cannot ever find enough, start investing in giving Him your time and He will give you "more" as a gift in return!   When someone says he doesn't have the time, it's a lie and deception because we all have the same 168 hours per week as a gift from God--it's not our time to give but to use for God's glory.  Jesus always had the time!  We are only allowed a limited amount of time in this life and must seize the day (carpe deim in Latin).  What it means is that he doesn't have the devotion to God's time, because it all belongs to Him.  I am aware that there can be periods of depression or of having a depressed funk and to be in the doldrums, but one must learn to get out of the ruts and to avail of God's blessing and turn it into one's advantage and learning experience (chalk it up to experience and the school of hard knocks!).  We can learn from these down-times and timeouts and everyone must experience them or they will never grow up spiritually.

It's times like these that our habits form and influence our behavior and we find out that there are dividends to reap in having good time management habits--there is an intrinsic reward in knowing that we have been productive and wise investors of the time God has allocated us as a gift to be used for Him and the service of others.  We may retire from our employment, but never from God's service.  It is selfish to insist on too much "me-time" or personal time-outs and not see it as something we owe others and God.  In view of time as a God-given resource, we are all on borrowed time! 

Certain people don't have all the time in the world, some are just better investors of it to God's glory.  There is a tendency for people who have time on their hands to waste it, but he must realize that he too will give an account as to how he kept busy with God's time.  Remember the words to Esther (Esth. 4:14, HCSB):  "... Who knows, perhaps you have come to your royal position for such a time as this."  Remember that God orchestrates history and time and "when the fullness of time" (cf. Gal. 4:4) comes He will accomplish His will.  And so, learn to get with the program on God's timetable with your rhythms in sync with God's timeline, so you're on the same page with God!   Final food for thought:  We will always have enough time for God's will because He created the time-space continuum and can make time for us too.   He MAKES EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN HIS TIME.  (CF. ECCL. 3:11).    Soli Deo Gloria!  

Does Time Matter?...

"[M]aking the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16, NKV).
"Time is the thing we have least of." --Ernest Hemingway
Do you have the time?  It's a gift from God! What you do with it should be your gift to God!
Carpe diem (seize the day)!  

By definition, time is a corollary of space and matter (not a measurement between two events because sometimes nothing happens) which both began ostensibly at the so-called Big Bang, which was the result of God's decree and the so-called energy clock began ticking. The Bible says that time began (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2). According to the kalam cosmological proof of God, everything that begins to exist has a cause; the universe began to exist and therefore has a cause.  Thus it follows that everything in (subject to) time and space also had a beginning or a cause; God is eternal, not the effect of anything and needs no one or nothing (cf. Acts 17:25), and therefore, has no cause.

The law of causality corollary (kalam argument) states that everything that begins to exist has a cause.   He alone can manipulate the space-time continuum that runs according to His laws and rules.  "When the fullness of time had come..." Jesus was incarnated into the space-time continuum!   Time captivity implies that things happen in sequence and you cannot go back or skip to the future, but it is not an independent force or power, just a way of relating.  (We define time as a corollary of space and matter and is not absolute).

God created the space-time continuum and exists prior to and above it, not limited nor defined by it.  He has the power to defy its rules as its Creator; however, we are captive to time and cannot remove ourselves from its slavery.  We live in the present, not the past nor the future!  But with the Lord, a thousand years is as one day and vice versa.  Time is not of the essence.  God is the ultimate "multi-tasker," being able to do everything simultaneously.   (Everything that begins to exist has a cause, therefore, God has no cause or limits being eternal.)   He alone can manipulate the space-time continuum that runs according to His laws and rules.  "When the fullness of time had come..."  (cf. Gal. 4:4).  Jesus was incarnated into the space-time continuum!   Time captivity implies that things happen in sequence and you cannot go back or skip to the future, but it is not an independent force or power, just a way of relating.

God created the space-time continuum and exists prior to and above it, not limited nor defined by it.  infinite numbers of tasks at a time--all equally efficient and uncompromised.  When He spends time with us personally, it doesn't mean any less time for others.  Time is even comprehended differently among creatures:  a mushroom grows up overnight, while an oak tree takes decades.  A dog year is as seven of ours in comparison.  We all see time relatively, but with God, there is the absolute present and ever or always  NOW.  He is outside its framework and boundaries, not captive and understood by it.

Time matters for us as we are allotted only a certain amount of it and must give an account of our stewardship.  God has forever!  He existed in eternity past and eternity future is in His hands.  He is the Alpha and Omega or the beginning and the end of all things, including history and time as we know it.  We can do several things with our time as stewards:  use it; give it; find it; borrow it; make it; invest it; redeem it; spend it; buy it; steal it; waste it; save it; kill it, and even share it! Love can be spelled T I M E!  We all value quality time with our loved ones.  It must have some intrinsic value!  We all have 168 hours per week allotted and have the same responsibility as stewards to use it the best we can because we will give an account.  We all have a God-ordained right to set aside a certain amount of it for worship and rest as a Sabbath.

We have no excuse in saying we do not have the time for God's will, for procrastination is no excuse.  Time is definitely of the essence!  There will be downtime, spare time, quiet time, quitting time, spare time, free time, and busy or occupied time, but we must learn to be creative with what God gives us by grace and be accountable.  There are some things that deserve our full attention and others that don't!  Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish historical novelist, quipped, "Time and tide wait for no man!"  We all need to be wise and make time work for us and we do this by prioritizing and putting Christ first.  David said in Psalm 31:15 said, "My times are in Your hands."  We entrust our stewardship to God for prioritizing and He always provides the means to do His will; i.e., there's always time for that.  And redeem the time for the days are evil.... Eph.  5:16. 

Time spent with God in prayer, worship, or service is always an investment of time and the busier we are, the more it pays off in dividends. "Time flies" (tempis fugit in Latin) because we are stewards.  In other words, it's not as much as finding the time, as making the time.  Eternity has been put into the heart of man (cf. Eccl. 3:11), and we cannot understand nor explain it fully, even how God is not its slave but Creator, but we don't have to understand it to accept it and believe it; the true test of reason is that some things are beyond reason.  Jesus is even Lord of time, not its servant. 

We cannot control time and we are subject to its constraints and boundaries, but we can manage it to our benefit.  Having time to spare or to do what you want can be a gift and one should use it wisely, not as a given to take advantage of or take for granted., while the exhortation to take one's time controverts biblical advice; on the contrary, it's a resource to be used to the glory of God. In the final analysis, we're all on borrowed time!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Numbering Our Days

"[Making] the most of your time, because the days are evil"  (Ephesians 5:16, NASB). 
"Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity"  (Col. 4:5, NASB).  
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil"  (Eph. 5:16, KJV).   
"For a thousand years in Your sight
Are like yesterday when it passes by,
Or as a watch in the night"  (Psalm 90:4, NASB).


The Lord can teach us to number our days and get wise to the fact of our limited time.  Too many live like there's no tomorrow, and die like they didn't get a chance to live!  We tend to live like we won't die, and die like we didn't live!  The truth of the matter is that God holds the future, as Scripture (cf. Psalm 31:15) says, "My times [future] is in your hands."  We are to make the most of every opportunity as the Lord gives us in grace to make hay with.  When He gives us lemons, make lemonade!  In other words, carpe diem, or seize the day!  We are only here for a limited time and will be judged by our stewardship of the opportunities God has granted us.

When we truly number our days or see them for what they're worth in the perspective of eternity, we get wise and don't take life or time for granted!  What does this mean but to thank God constantly for all He has done in our lives, to be ever aware of His presence and blessings, and hopeful and prayerful for the future, as being in His hands?  We should thank God for prayers even yet to be answered! Only when we see how passing our life is, and frail, ready to fade as a leaf, do we have high regard for it and see it as a blessing not to be wasted--we don't have the right to live as we choose and spend time doing as our pleasure only.  When we say we belong to God, our time does too! We are never too busy for God's service!  "... All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come"  (Job 14:14, NIV).

We don't have the right to kill time, and we should always find ways to redeem or buy back whatever God has allotted us by grace.  We can invest our time, spend our time, or waste our time--choose wisely.   Somethings are not necessarily a waste of time, they just aren't necessary!  When we walk in the Spirit He guides us and makes our time valuable, but never think that God is out of control when the unexpected happens--we are never interrupted, just given opportunities.  No one is a waste of your time, just an investment! The two-time wasters are looking back with regret and looking ahead with worry--neither are necessary with the eye of faith.  Time management is in order for the faithful believer who will give account for his stewardship of God's resources.

In summation, we need to constantly update our schedule and agenda to put God in it, and to orient ourselves to His plans, not making Him fit into or approve of ours!  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Timeless One

"... Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God"  (Psalm 90:2, NASB).  
"Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God..." (Isaiah 40:28, ESV).
"For thus says the high and lofty One
  who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy;
'I dwell in the high and holy place [outside the time/space continuum]"  (Isaiah 57:15, RSV).
"[W]ho has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.  This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time"  (2 Tim. 1:9, NIV).

Most people don't know that time actually began!  Before there was a cosmos, there was no time--it was not of the essence!  "[G]od ... promised before time began"  (Titus 1:2, HCSB, emphasis added).

To our disadvantage, we are confined to time to comprehend things because we fit into the four dimensions that it included; whereas God created time and is timeless; from everlasting to everlasting He is God, according to Psalm 90:1.  Scientists have determined that if there were no space or matter, there would be no time.  What we can infer is that they were all created ex nihilo or out of nothing by the command of God simultaneously, since time is merely a corollary of space and matter.  If God created time, he cannot be defined in terms of it and is independent of it, and cannot be confined to it as we are.

God lives in more dimensions than we do and ones we cannot fathom.  When we say God is timeless, it means He doesn't age nor change--He is immutable!  Everything that begins to exist has a cause according to the ancient Greeks, and since God didn't begin to exist, He has no cause--He's not an effect, which means He owes His existence to no one or nothing.  God is not an effect since He had no beginning! Therefore, He must be self-existent and is who He is.  We don't know what God was doing before creation--some say He was creating hell for curious souls!  

But Jesus is the "Alpha and Omega," who always is, always was, and always shall be; the One "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (cf. Rev. 1:8), having no beginning and no end.  He is called the eternal "I Am" in Scripture and this is not an Is-ness or state of being, but an Is-ing, a living Being (the Is-ing One), that is independent of all other life.

What God did was create a place in our heart to long for eternity--He set eternity in our hearts according to Eccl. 3:11.   When God is not defined in terms of time, it means He's timeless and will never grow old, become obsolete, nor become weary due to age.   If God created time, then, He has the right to manipulate it according to His will and to step outside it and to see all of it in one big spectrum or perspective.  To Him, a day is as a thousand years (He can accomplish as much as He wants in any given moment), and a thousand years is as a day (He can speed it up to His desires).

In summation, we can see how man cannot fathom God's limits nor understand eternity since the finite cannot grasp the infinite, as the Greeks said.  We are limited no matter how we approach the equation of God.  "Canst thou by searching find out God?" (Cf. Job 11:7).  You cannot put Him into a box or equation!  Jesus Himself pronounced:  "... Before Abraham was, I Am [already existed as the eternal One]"  (cf. John 8:58).  God created the time/space continuum and is able to manipulate after His will.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Never Too Busy!

The disciples interrupted the people from taking Jesus' time when He was blessing the children because they assumed He was too busy for them (cf. Matt. 19:14, KJV: "... [Suffer] the little children to come unto me...").  Jesus doesn't see interruptions--but only opportunities. Everything is Father-filtered!  How you handle these are a test of your patience!  God's timing is always perfect and He is the Author of time and "[our] times are in [His] hands," according to Psalm 31:15. Our future, then it is in His hands and He has no Plan B, as it were. We can frustrate our plans and they may never come to fruition, but God cannot be thwarted and will not fail; however, we are on the winning side and are in solidarity with Christ or in Christ.

The greatest obstacle to God's will is our will, it has been said. When we walk in step with the Spirit things go according to the glory of God and He is glorified through us; we must learn to walk with God like Enoch and Noah did. There is ample and adequate reason for everything that happens during our day and God has a time and purpose for every occasion in God's creation and under the sun, or so it says in Ecclesiastes. NB:  It's only because man has the precious gift of time consciousness and can anticipate the future and remember the past that he has the side effects of worrying about the future and regretting the past--two notorious time thieves!

We can do many things with our time:  We can invest it to bring dividends from God-like in spiritual ventures; we can spend it on profitable enterprises and things of extrinsic value; we can gain an intrinsic reward from the saving of time (what a joy!) by prioritizing what is important to God, not us; we can also spend our time on things of intrinsic worth like those that are edifying, educational, and inspiring; we can even waste time by killing it and doing nothing notable with it worth remembering and we may even regret doing; we can do nothing with our time because of boredom or sloth, but there is always something to do if we are willing to do it;  we enjoy time the most when we learn to spend it serving others as Jesus said in Mark 10:45 (ESV):  "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many." 

The happiest people are too busy thinking about others that they never wonder about their own happiness (it makes them happy to see others happy!). I believe there will always be downtime as a test of our ingenuity with redeeming the time (biblically commanded), and finding out what we're made of, and this will always be a challenge of our character. Chuck Colson relates a story of a convict who refused to have a TV in his cell because he felt you could waste a lot of time watching it.


But we will be held accountable for the time allotted us at the Judgment Seat of Christ (bema), and we should be"redeeming the time," according to Paul, because "the days are evil."  Time is precious, we will never get back lost opportunities or time wasted. "An idle hand is the devil's workshop!"  As they say, carpe diem, or seize the day! The best overall use of time is to make it into something that will outlast you, or that is bigger than you! The only way to do this is to realize your potential in God's kingdom and learn to do "kingdom living." We are not wealth builders, but kingdom builders. Day by day we learn to discipline ourselves into time management and the precious use of the opportunities God grants us by grace. The worse use of time:  Regret and worry (looking back or ahead!).  They say that worry is the interest you pay on a debt you don't owe.  God can free us from regret and guilt by giving us a clean conscience and reason to go on living.  He wipes the slate clean and gives us a fresh lease on life with a new start with Christ in control as our autopilot.


How much time you think you have depends on how big your God is, or if your world is too big for your God? and how much time you believe He gives you.  God will never overwhelm you, but only gives you a yoke and burden you can manage.  Jesus said:  "My yoke is easy, My burden is light" (cf. Matt. 11:30).  "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you," according to Isaiah 43:2 (ESV). We can handle whatever God can throw at us if we are willing and obedient through the power of the Holy Spirit ( Philippians 4:13; 2:13; Heb. 13:21; Col. 1:29; Isa. 26:12; Romans 15:18).  We can also handle whatever the world can dish out with the aid of God being with us through the rivers of life.

Busyness in itself is not a virtue! (This is no excuse!)   It is good to be busy, but this is not synonymous!  If you have priorities you always have time for God and the Lord's work--this is what we're living for.  When you have a purpose you have the motivation to work hard ("Whatever your hand finds to do, do with all your might," says Eccl. 10:11, ESV).  Work is meant to be a blessing and we demonstrate the image of God when we work; even God is at work!  Adam worked and it is not a curse; we can all find inner meaning in it:  Bro. Lawrence, a monk, wrote a book, The Practice of the Presence of God, in which he prayed all day as he washed dishes for the Lord in a 16th-century monastery.

There is a difference between being too busy and keeping busy:  Jesus was never too busy, though he kept busy and productive with His time, except when He needed R & R because He was human and got tired and exhausted, too:  He never wasted time, though!  There's a difference between being lazy and tired and needing a break from the routine with some downtime.


Rick Warren says:  The number one enemy of kindness is busyness.  How often we say, 'I am just too busy.  I don't have time to get involved.  It might mess up my schedule or agenda.  I have my priorities and pressures to think about.  I am too busy to fix a meal for my sick neighbor ... I am too busy...." Christ's opportunities may come when we are busy to see if we have time for Him and He knocks on our door.  That opportunity may never come again!  Interruptions are just reminders that we are not in control of the situation, but God is sovereign over our time and has the best intention in mind for us.

If you realize you are called to do something you want to do, you are motivated to do your best and not be slack.  A new mother soon realizes that her time is not her own!  We are all realizing our potential and no one has arrived yet, we are all "works in progress!"  But being a "work-a-holic" is not necessarily good because we are meant to enjoy our lives too and not be all work and no play. What you enjoy may be your calling in life and work can be a calling but there is more to life than work. You can work yourself sick or to a mental or emotional disorder, and even end up in a mental hospital or lose sanity--God has decreed us to get our rest as a principle in the Sabbath. We all need R & R on occasion and need to have our "fun" or whatever is fun to us. It is a blessing to know what you enjoy doing and to enjoy doing it, no matter how much time it consumes.

If the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy, I've read somewhere, and I affirm this adage. It's too easy to get into the habit of putting off spiritual things (even on Sunday, of all days--the Lord's day), and thinking only of our own advantage and pleasure or interests. We don't want to become sluggards or slothful but to be hardworking believers who demonstrate the Christian work ethic and become productive citizens who give back to society--not just receiving its benefits pro bono.  God gives us the power to be productive in His kingdom, not necessarily in the world, though--which may despise us.

It is not true that you be so heavenly minded you are no earthly good unless you mean being irresponsible and slothful, but this depends upon your definitions of the terminology. We can make things happen and do God's work, which is more important than our work and should always have preeminent importance. The more dedicated you are to putting God first and prioritizing Him, the more time you will be able to redeem for Him and His work and you don't find the time, you make time.

We will be accountable for all the opportunities, time, resources, money, skills, talents, and blessings God has bestowed on us because nothing belongs to us--we are just stewards of God.  In short, we should proclaim boldly:  "I'm never too busy for the Lord or the Lord's work!" Caveat:  There is a curse on him who does the Lord's work with slackness in Jeremiah 48:10.

These verses are relevant: Whatever we do, we find to do we should do with all our might and as unto the Lord and to His glory per Scripture admonition. "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men" (Col. 3:23, ESV). "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus...." (Col. 3:17, ESV). "..."Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God" (1 Cor. 10:31, ESV). "Making the best use [redeeming] of the time, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16, ESV).   Soli Deo Gloria!

The Beginning Of Time...

"For by him all thing were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together"  (Col. 1:16-17, ESV). 
"(For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God" (Heb. 3:4, ESV). 
"[I]n hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began" (Tit. 1:2, ESV). 
[W]ho saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began" (2 Tim. 1:9, ESV).  

The Bible begins unapologetically "In the beginning God...."  It assumes and does not prove, there is a God behind creation. This isn't just the way the Bible begins but the beginning of all logic, thinking, and rationality or reason.  Any other assumption is incoherent!  In Stephen Hawking's book, The Brief History of Time, he postulates the Big Bang as its origin (the Bible declared this in Genesis).  Just like you cannot have a design without a designer so you cannot have creation without a Creator. This is known as a teleological proof of God's existence.  

Paul says in Romans 1:20 that men are without excuse because of the abundant evidence in nature. Immanuel Kant said that two things amaze him:  The starry skies above and the conscience within.  God is self-existent, in that He owes nothing nor anyone for His existence.  We, on the other hand, owe our very being to Him (cf. Acts 17:28).  He is the sole, primary cause of the cosmos and the uncaused cause, as the Greeks said. Everything that begins to exist has a cause, but God didn't begin to exist, but is eternal and therefore no cause and is not an effect.

Genesis is vital to the Bible because there is only one logical alternative:  "In the beginning matter/energy (quantum)."  The idea of "In the beginning nothing" is a matter of intellectual suicide because the Greeks ventured:  Ex nihilo, nihil fit, or out of nothing, nothing comes. Imagine the negation of everything and nothing existing!   Absurd.  Everything in the time-space continuum has a beginning, but don't jump to the conclusion that all that there is had a beginning because this would be fatal to science, logic, philosophy, and even religion.   If ever there was a time when nothing existed, there would be nothing now.  The theory of an eternal universe, it has been demonstrated, is untenable--evolutionists cannot swallow this bitter pill of there actually being a "beginning."

There has to be something transcendent, they reasoned, because we exist.  God is therefore eternal--the alternative is that matter is eternal, and that is disproved due to the Big Bang, or the beginning of the time/space continuum.  Nothing can create or cause itself--it is illogical!  The order has to be that first there was a Thinker, then a thought, then an action leading to creation or thing.  It is so much easier, to begin your reasoning with God and then explain the universe rather than beginning with the universe and explaining God or the cosmos! Napoleon was asked if there was a God? He replied, looking to the heavens:  "Who made that?"

The existence of God and a Thinker is evident because we are thinkers which necessitates a Higher Mind for our existence and creation.   Life only comes from life because of the genetic and metabolic motor, DNA, only is made from DNA.  That begs the question:  How did the first DNA arrive?  It must be by creation, which is only logical.  There is a required Supreme Being thinking and planning everything--that's why we have a "fine-tuned" (who tuned it?) universe and the earth is made in the Anthropic Principle, or designed perfectly for human habitation--the "Creator" just happened to get things right!

Athanasius Kircher designed a model solar system and when his superior saw it, he asked who made it. Kircher told him, "No one, it just happened!" The man balked at accepting and thought Kircher was trying to pull one over on him.  He said, "Well, you believe the whole universe just created itself!"  In the rules of cosmology, nothing "just just happens" but every effect or event must have a cause:  The Big Bang couldn't have just happened by chance or accident, but someone or something intelligent was behind it to pull the trigger.  The only plausible explanation for our universe is that there is a God behind it who made it on purpose for His purposes--He told us to subdue it. 

God created the time-space continuum and is therefore outside the limits of both being eternal and having no beginning or cause.  He is not confined, limited, nor defined by time, which He created!  NB:  Scripture mentions the so-called beginning of time in two places in the New Testament:  2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2 cited above.  This was before scientists even speculated on the subject and even though there was no beginning, as recorded in Genesis 1:1!   Soli Deo Gloria!

One Day At A Time...

By definition "time" is only a corollary of space and matter/energy and is part of God's creation; therefore God is sovereign over it, not bound by it, nor defined, or limited by it--it is irrelevant to Him!  Let's perceive reality from the divine viewpoint!  That is to say:  Put God in the equation!  You don't see the Big Picture apart from Him!

I used to like the TV show of that title in the '70s and it is a valid philosophy even for unbelievers--psychiatrists would acknowledge this too.  I'm not saying that reminiscing has no place in our lives, but where our daily focus is.  Remember the TV series "Happy Days?"  People tend to think of the olden days as the good old days, and Solomon warned us against doing this in Eccles. 7:10 saying: "Do not say, 'Why were the old days better than these?'"  God has "set eternity in the heart of man" (we have the unique ability that animals don't have to anticipate the future, but a side-effect is that we also can worry about it!) but we are not meant to live oriented only for the "here and now." "Where there is no vision, the people perish," according to Proverbs 29:18 and we must look ahead in making plans, but not in presumption or preoccupation.  ("Commit whatever you do to the LORD, and He will establish your plans.")  "There is a proper time and procedure for every purpose under heaven."  "He makes everything beautiful in its time," so it is said:  Go by God's timetable, not yours!

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" (Psalm 90:12).  The older we get, it seems like time is more of the essence (Ernest Hemingway said,  "Time is the thing we have the least of.").  Time goes faster and the birthdays even are a blur. Tempis fugit (time flies).   The Bible says, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. 33:25).  Our life is but a "vapor" that vanishes! Like the grass that withers!

Depression is rampant today: It is mainly caused by people living and dwelling on the past; misinterpreting the present; and anticipating the future.  But we should always remember the words of wisdom:  Yesterday is gone, tomorrow is not yet given to us, so why not live today!  We get ahead of ourselves and make plans thinking that tomorrow is guaranteed, but we are to live one day at a time and commend the future to God's care. "Boast not thyself of tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth" (Proverbs 27:1).  Jesus taught us to pray to "give us this day our daily bread" for a reason.  Psalm 118:24 says:  "This is the day that the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Some people do the extreme of just living for the "here and now" and "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die [quoting 1 Cor. 15:22, ESV, cf. Isaiah 22:13]."  This philosophy dates back to antiquity and Democritus who espoused us to seek "man's fulfillment in the here and now of this world."  We are to live each day to the fullest, but in light of eternity, doing God's will--which is revealed one day at a time, i.e., we don't know God's will for our whole life like a rolled-out revealed agenda.  "My times [future] is in thy hands"  (Psalm 31:15).

We trust God for the future and make our plans "but the LORD establishes [our] steps" (Prov. 16:9). Since we are given one day at a time and live it one day at a time let us heed the advice of Matthew Henry:  "Live each day as if it were your last."  If you aren't prepared to die, you are not prepared to live; for it is in the fear of death that the devil holds people captive to do his will. No one is guaranteed tomorrow!  However, seeing the spiritual dimension gives you a whole new outlook.

Providence is manifest:  "A man's steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?" (Prov. 20:24);  "I know, O LORD, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps" (Jeremiah 10:23); "Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established"  (Prov. 16:3).  God is never frustrated and we do not ever interrupt His plans according to Ephesians 1:11 which says:  "[We are being] predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will." Daniel 4:35 says:  "...none can stay his hand, or say to him, 'What doest thou?'"

God orchestrates history and "...he does whatever he pleases"  (Job 23:13).  From God's perspective there is no time element; for He is outside, not defined, nor limited by the time-space continuum which He created for us:  This means He is all-wise (pansophic) and we must trust Providence and not try to think we can predict or see the future.  Hindsight is always 20/20 and we are all geniuses at this, so we shouldn't feel guilty and regret the past as believers.

It is time to take inventory and assess our way of life:  Are we getting what we expected and what we want out of life--life is empty without God in it (enthusiasm means putting God into it).  Nature abhors a vacuum and boredom indicates a lack of purpose and fulfillment and humans are known for this propensity whereas animals aren't.   Socrates said that the "unexamined life is not worth living."  The Latin saying carpe diem or seize the day is pertinent!  In summary:  There is no Plan B, but everything is going according to God's glory and being cognizant of Providence gives us great faith and patience in everyday events.  Soli Deo Gloria!

Making Time For God...

The Navigators taught me about setting a specific time each morning to hear from God, through prayer and Bible meditation.  They taught me that God would keep His part of the appointment but I must keep mine.  If we fail to find God during the day it is not His fault--we must seek Him early to find Him ("O, that I knew where I might find Him [says Job 23:3]") or you may not find Him all day!
When you wonder about the whereabouts of God, it is you that moved!

That's the secret--start your day off with Jesus.  Martin Luther would pray for hours to open his day, and if he was busy, he would pray all the more.  Prayer is a reliable time-saver and investment. This is the joy of abiding in Christ and being in fellowship with Him through the day, but there are other factors to consider and enter into the equation that may trip us up and they are as follows:

We all seem to live hectic schedules and sometimes people seem to be an interruption of "our" time (words like "interruption" and "bother" shouldn't even be in our lingo).  I don't think Jesus ever felt interrupted but made time for people in their time of need.  We don't want to disoblige someone on purpose, of course, but it is nice to know that they affirm their friendship by saying they can be "bothered" 24/7 if we ever need them.  We don't want to give God the leftovers of our money, and this is a way that we don't give Him the leftovers of our time.  We have decided to drop all and follow Jesus, as sit were, and this is an application to that.  Love is spelled T-I-M-E and a person feels wanted and loved when we give them our time, a valuable commodity and resource.

Being busy is not a virtue, in fact, if the devil can't make you bad, he'll make you busy.  We shouldn't relegate others to our convenience but should be willing to make a sacrifice.  Love is sacrificial.  We should seek another's audience, for instance, at their convenience, not ours, to be polite--"Please return the call at your leisure!"  It's one thing to take advantage of some one's generosity, and another to be in sincere need.  I like to give the benefit of the doubt and would rather err on the side of letting me be taken advantage of.

We all have priorities in our relationships, but Jesus said to love our neighbor (the person in need)--He didn't think He'd have to tell us to love our family, which is only normal, and even the heathen do that.  When we shrug a person off and refuse to give him attention we can make him feel like a persona non grata.  That means they can feel like a nobody and it affects the self-image of a person, among other things as a natural consequence.  Sometimes God puts an unlovely person or challenging person in our path to see if we really do love--this is real "tough love."

In conclusion, I'm not saying we should be a doormat or let ourselves get taken advantage of on purpose, but be apologetic, courteous, and humble in declining any opportunity that we cannot meet, since, in view of Providence, God allowed this to happen and there must be a time and purpose behind it.   Soli Deo Gloria!