Time is a tricky thing, isn't it? Have you ever nervously watched the clock as the hours and minutes slowly inched toward the time that was causing your anxiety? It could be the time for a job interview, a first date, something exciting you want to tell your friend, or it could be hours/minutes of a life slowly fading away. Unfortunately for us, time is not always on our side. Time is of precious value and we often waste it, rather than embrace it.
Imagine that we have all been given a time card of life. In businesses, a time card is used to track the amount of time an employee spends on the job. It is kept as a record of the number of hours someone works so that an employee gets paid the correct amount. If we had a time card for life, that means we would be held accountable for each hour and the tasks we were accomplishing within a certain day. What if we were suddenly given more time? What would we do with this time? Would we hold ourselves accountable? How many hours of work would be recorded on your time card? I realize this is only a metaphor, but please consider this...
Each of us, in our own way, have been given the gift of more time. Time granted=schedules cleared. As we all know, this is a strange time in our country. Quarantine is now our "new normal." While I recognize some people are considered essential workers, along with trying to be homeschool parents or students, we have all had time granted. Right now, many of us have more time on our hands than we know what to do with. We may be tempted to say we are bored and restless (I know I have). Some days, it feels as though we have been imprisoned in our own homes. Other days, life feels "almost normal." When we think back to what we considered normal, we realize that we were constantly busy with hardly any time to breathe.
When life was constantly busy, we had a list of excuses prepared to explain why we didn't spend time with God. Now we find ourselves with no excuses. Nothing to hide behind. Our time cards are currently on hold. Some of us may not be working right now or we are working from home. We are not able to go out to eat, shop, or simply "run around" like we once did. We are not making recurring plans with friends and family (I realize this part is hard). All of these things seem necessary to us. This constant running. This compulsion to fulfill ourselves by staying busy with life. We aren't tracking the hours in this season of life. At least not the way we used to. We have more time and some of us are at a loss-uncertain how to use it. Maybe we need to pull out our time cards and examine them. What were we spending our time on before quarantine? Was it things that would feed our souls? Things that would further our relationship with Jesus Christ and lead others to Him? I'm going to take a wild guess and say that, for many of us, the answer is no. I'll be honest, that was my answer.
We have a purpose. God's purpose. When we don't put the proper amount of time and effort into serving God and others, our time card is going to be off. We cannot be paid the correct amount (God's blessings) if we are not investing the correct amount of time in our relationship with Jesus. Since when did time become something that we could manipulate the way we want to? We have misplaced the value of time and God has given all of us a second chance, if you will. Quarantine is no fun. COVID-19 is not something to be taken lightly. I am in no way belittling those of you who are still working, still providing, and may be just as busy or more so due to the circumstances. It's hard. This has been a long and winding road with uncertainties around every corner. Each fork in the road causes us to get knocked backward again and again. It seems like there is no moving forward sometimes. That is our perception, but I don't believe that is what God wants us to focus on. He won't make life convenient to fit our schedules. So here we are. Our schedules in complete disarray. Our lives in a state of confusion. Our time cards of life handed to us, begging the question: What are we going to do with the time granted?
I cannot answer this question for you. In this case, honesty is the best policy. Look back at your previous time cards. The years before 2020. Not to beat yourself up about the past, but to prepare yourself for the present. Name one thing that kept you from spending time with God. Then name another and another until you have eliminated every possibility. Chances are, one or two of those things have been wiped from your current time card. You have room to invest your time in what matters. Your relationship with Jesus. Let Him keep track of every minute, every hour, and every day you give back to Him. God is keeping a record of how your time on earth has been spent. Honestly, that terrifies me, because I know I have fallen short more times than I want to admit. But I have been handed a new time card. I want to make the most of it.
Who knows how God can use you for such a time as this?
Esther 4:14 (NKJV)-For if you remain completely silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?