Time. It seems there is never enough of it. I find myself running late far too often. On any given day I feel like I’m behind on dozens of things. That feeling often carries over from a task level to a heart level. Sometimes I feel like I’m behind in life. I feel like there are things I should have accomplished by now–but haven’t. There are things I thought would be different at this stage of the game. There are areas where I had no idea breakthrough would take so long. Beyond my own life, there are so many areas I thought we (the Church) would have laid hold of by now. It’s easy become discouraged by focusing on the areas where it seems we’ve “missed it”–but I don’t think God ever views it that way.
Recently I heard a Vineyard song from some years back and a particular line kept jumping out and hitting my heart: “Time is my ally in proving Your love to be true.”
Time as an ally. Hmmm … not how I usually think of it. But when it comes to proving the faithfulness of God, time is an ally! God lives outside of time. He is not bound by the minutes on the clock or the days on the calendar. He is the Ancient of Days and He sees the beginning from the end. He always was , He is, and He forever will be the Sovereign over all creation. He’s not running behind and He’s definitely not running out of time. He has already seen every decision we’ll ever make, both individually and collectively. He knows the times and He knows the seasons. He created time–and it bows to Him.
He knew the date, hour and even the minute of my birth. He knew the generation I’d be living in. He knew my strengths and He knew my weaknesses. He knew the exact moment my eyes and heart would be opened to the reality of His love – and He’s known every detail of every victory and every heartbreak since. And my times are in His hands.
I’m not late. You’re not late. We’re not late. And God certainly isn’t late. We’re right on time. The timetable of eternity is intact.
Does that mean we don’t each have a part to play in partnering with God in His purposes? Of course we do. We choose whether or not we want to align ourselves with His timetable. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to miss our hour of visitation. We still have choices and we can choose to grow impatient and do our own thing. But if we’re watching, if we’re waiting – then so is He.
The really amazing thing is that even if you have already checked out of God’s purposes, it’s not too late to jump right back in! He already knew and He planned ahead. At this very moment, you can realign yourself with the timetable of heaven. He is the great Redeemer. He is the great Restorer. In fact, He doesn’t just redeem the time – He can even restore years! (Joel 2: 25)
Time is our ally in proving His love to be true. Time is our ally in proving His faithfulness. Time is our ally in watching and waiting for the plans and purposes of God–the promises of God–to unfold.
Maybe I’m not running behind after all. In fact, I’m starting to think I might be right on time.
And so are you.
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Still recycling 🙂 Edited this from something I wrote several years ago. Once again, it’s something the Lord has been reminding me about, so I’m passing it along.
The song I quoted from is called “Now and Forevermore” — I found a link on youtube:
Cindy Powell 