But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 2 Peter 3:8
The last few days I have been thinking about my son, Scott, and his wife, Emily. Living a few hundred miles away from us and leading such busy lives, we don’t get to see them as often as we like. It’s been about 3 months now, and when that much time goes by, I began to get really anxious to see them. This mother can’t wait much longer! Texting and emails and many phone calls hearing their voices helps, but I long to see those faces I haven’t seen for so long! Maybe in 3 or more 4 weeks? I have to admit that I am a person who thinks too much about time. I count the days and want them to hurry past. Yet. I remind myself that for many different reasons, some families get to see each other much less, and I am so grateful for the times we do. Every time I see a video or read a story about a service member who has come home after such a long time away, I celebrate with them and the tears flow, for I cannot imagine the sacrifice they give each and every day, being away from their families for so long. And then thinking about them having to leave again, I can’t even imagine! Time together is such a gift! Time is such a gift for so many reasons!
How very true this statement is: “All of us are imprisoned by time. We can’t escape it.” Sometimes we feel trapped in a time frame when things are going badly, and then at other times, it seems to fly by much too fast. Sometimes when we seem particularly happy, we want to slow it down, or even stop it. We watch our clocks and calendars, and time passes on. We may feel restrained by it or wish to hurry it on, but either way it imprisons us to its control. This is not so with God. His clock and his nature are quite different from ours. Since God is eternal and we are of this earth, time is not seen in the same way. This verse reminds us of how time is so inconsequential to God. No matter how long a time interval is from our viewpoint, it is like the twinkling of an eye from His eternal perspective. While we tend to number our days, He looks at life for us as the beginning and the end and then everlasting. In eternity there is no past or future, only the present. Time as we know it does not exist for God. How difficult that is for man to comprehend, especially when we are waiting for something from Him that we have prayed for. We know from experience that sometimes we just have to wait and be patient. If we could only learn not to just wait on God, but to wait with Him, it would be so much easier. Waiting is not easy for any of us, especially as time goes by. But if we could only remember that God’s timing is not our timing. “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” Yet He understands our longings, how impatient we can get, and how much we value our times with those we love. I can even imagine Him thinking, “My child, if you only knew what I have planned for you someday. You’ll see that time is really of no consequence!”
Even more difficult than thinking about God’s timing is the concept of eternity and no restraints on our time. Imagine the freedom of knowing our time is infinite, limitless, and forever. It is human nature to not look forward to death, and very few can get excited about the idea of heaven while life consumes our days with loved ones, new adventures, and familiarity and comfort. But then when we try to imagine what God could possibly have planned for us, it is even beyond comprehension compared to our lives now. It’s just inconceivable because we have no concept of eternity. We can read Scripture and books about heaven and try to envision its beauty and glory, but we can never truly know until we experience it for ourselves. “However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.’ ” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Prayer
Dear God, there is so much about you and your ways that we don’t and can’t understand, and one of those is time. Help us to be patient and wait with you for whatever lies ahead. Thank you for the wonderful times with family and all those we care about, and for all the moments that make life so sweet. May we live our lives in a way that brings glory to you and live with the wonderful promise and hope of life eternal. Amen