No Man's Time

“How did it get so late so soon?

It's night before it's afternoon.

December is here

before it's June.

My goodness how the time has flewn.

How did it get so late so soon?”  

~Dr. Seuss~

 

Time slips out of your hands, like a cord in a weaver’s hand. I did not realize how much time I have used up until I looked at the date on my last post. It is nearly an out-of-sight mile-marker, disappearing into the distance. Time. Yes, it is a good subject. When we were children, time treaded slowly. Time picked up her feet in high-school, but still she did not move as fast as our impatient hearts wanted. In college, she began to jog. And now that we are adults, she is sprinting in a mad dash while we desperately try to keep pace. Time moves too fast. Our lives are marked by time. We are born which winds-up the clock, significant events are marked on our timeline, and then the clock winds-down at our death. We have such a short supply of time. However, all too often, I find myself either anxiously wishing myself at the next event on my timeline or stopping at the previous event.   
What a child I am! I think the key to spending time well is to be content. Contentment. I do not want grasp that word. No, I want everything but contentment. However, God wants me to learn its meaning, so I will. I went back to Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, since I assumed that he lived in a slower time and era. He, of anyone, should understand the word. Webster explains that “contentment; a resting or satisfaction of mind without disquiet; acquiescence. Contentment, without external honor, is humility. Godliness.” Wow. Contentment is humility and Godliness. I paused in my hurried rush to contemplate his definition. I suppose, contentment is humility and Godliness because it acknowledges that God is God. God knows our timeline. He knows what he has planned for my life. I am in the exact place that He has created for me. I am not the Creator of my timeline. My birth was out of my control, and my death will be out of my control. God is the one who began to spin my timeline, and He knows the exact length that He wants it. He also knows the twists and turns that He wants incorporated into my timeline. What am I to do then? What can I do when He holds the line? I can be faithful with the task that He has given me. I can know and acknowledge that I do not know the next twist of the line, but I do know where I am right now. I know that I have a task to accomplish. I will simply finish the work that God has given me to do. Not only will I finish my work, but I will be faithful in it. I will stop assuming the wrong role and accept my role with humility. I will trust God to spin my life in the manner that He has planned.