Squandering time?

I think there are times in life when we perceive it to be one time but may not realize it is later than we think! The message today is to consider the time, for it may be later than we think. We may perceive time to be endless, especially in our youth, but as we age a little, we see just how quickly it passes. I dreaded summer vacation off of school as a kid because I liked the mental stimulation of school. A couple weeks of break and I was ready to go back! Time seemed to stand still as those three months passed! Now, a week can be gone in the blink of an eye! What once seemed unending now appears quite limited.

For everything there is a season, a time to every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. (Ecclesiastical 3:1-2)

In life, we have opportunities that come our way at a particular time in our life. They may not come our way again because they are more or less "time sensitive". I would have to say relationships are one of those things. We can twitter away fragments of time without ever realizing it, all the while believing we have time, neglecting the important things within that relationship. It may be God is asking us to pay attention to that time a little today - like he is calling us back into focus. Whenever he does this, it isn't to punish us, but rather to help us recognize the true time, for we never really know when it will be "later than we think". "How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flown. How did it get so late so soon?" (Dr. Suess) The age-old question: How did it get so late so soon? Define for me what the difference is between late and so late. Some might say the difference is being able to meet a deadline or being there just on time compared to totally missing the deadline or the timing for whatever needs to be done. Regardless of how we define it, the time we hold in our hands today will be gone all too swiftly and we know not if we are guaranteed more!

We want to imagine things as endless, but in reality, God is the one in control. He counted out the grains within the hourglass which fall all too quickly to the bottom of that glass. All we can do is manage well what we have been given today and ensure we don't miss the opportunities to show someone how much we love them, or how precious their relationship has been to us as time has passed. Someday all we will be left with are the memories of how we used our time. We all want those memories to amount to a legacy. Don't squander those moments...it is later than you think! Just sayin!

Reading the moment

Have you ever said the wrong thing at the wrong time? Maybe you actually said the right thing, but at the wrong time. Either way, the 'thing' you said was not taken well, or it was completely ignored. Why? The 'wisdom' it takes to say only what needs to be said, in the right timing is an 'art'. It might not come easily to some, but it can be learned at the feet of Jesus. We just need to spend enough time with him to see how what he notices, when he chooses to speak, and the words he chooses when he speaks.

Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time! (Proverbs 15:23)

While I am not an expert on this subject by any means, I have learned there are just times when someone will not hear what you are saying no matter how many different ways you attempt to say it. The heart just isn't in 'receiver' mode. They aren't open to hearing, so even if the timing might be right and the word you bring is pretty spot on, if the heart is blocking the message all the brain hears is 'Wah, Wa, Wa, Wah, Wa, Wa'. 

It takes two to communicate. This might be the hardest lesson for us to learn because we sometimes think just speaking is enough. If the one being spoken to isn't willing to hear, or the heart isn't ready to receive, the communication is one-way. I am sure we have all been there - someone is trying to tell us how we should do something, but we are not focused, our intent is not to learn the stuff, or our mind is made up that the things being said just don't apply to this circumstance.

A fitting reply is both the right word coupled with the right timing. Learning to read the moment is important, but it may not come as naturally as we'd like. We might be ready to speak but the one who needs to hear us is far from prepared. The moment matters as much as the openness of heart. When we get the moment wrong, the heart is rarely prepared to respond to what is being said. We would all do well to seek God's help in both 'reading the moment' and preparing the words we will bring forth when the heart is ready to hear. Just sayin!

Carpe Diem

It was the poet Virgil that reminded us, "Time passes irrevocably", so we had best make the most out of the moments we are given. "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up." (Ecclesiastes 3:1-3) What moments have you let pass you by? Maybe it is 'time' to invest in the moments - the hour could just be later than we think.

Moments can pass us by, or we can appreciate the value in each one and make the most of them. The blind beggar sitting along the Jericho roadside likely went there every day with the express purpose of getting a few coins or a parcel of food that might help him to have his needs met. Do you think he imagined that he'd hear that it was Jesus traveling that route one day, and that by calling out to Jesus that he'd actually walk home that evening seeing perfectly? (Luke18) He heard, but he didn't see. He trusted in what he had heard, and he believed. He asked, and he received. In a moment his life was changed.

Do we think it was by accident that the young shepherd boy named David was taking lunch to his elder brothers at the front line of battle at the point the battle was about to be lost? Can we say it was coincidence that David would be there are the moment Goliath the Giant challenged the Israelite army? That was a moment - a time of decision for David. A time to reveal his trust in the Almighty God of Israel and the power of one tiny stone carefully picked from the riverbed. The giant taunted, but David stepped forward - in a moment all the taunting ended and the battle was won - not by the giant, but by the one tiny stone in the hand of one faith-filled boy. (I Samuel 17)

What moments has God prepared for you? Moments that will increase your faith, fill your heart, and heal your mind, body, and soul. We might think we will get another, but we must never forget who prepares the moments. God places us right where we are, in just the exact circumstances we are in, with just the right amount of faith to face the moment. You and I need to learn to 'read the moment' and then seize it. So, Carpe Diem! Just sayin!