He must do much and live greatly in little time.”
–Zane Grey (The Desert of Wheat)
“Then the Lord appointed a set time, saying, ‘Tomorrow the Lord will do this thing in the land.’”
–Exodus 9:5 (NKJV)
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“Now it came to pass, when the TIME had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”
–Luke 9:51(NKJV)
“Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time; however, he will come when he has a convenient TIME.”
–1 Corinthians 16:12 (NKJV)
“To everything there is a season, a TIME for every purpose under heaven.”
–Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
Notice the emphasis on the word “Time.” We often look at time with contempt. “I’m out of time.” When I coached basketball, when the game was close and towards the final buzzer I kept noticing the time. I would find myself checking out the time clock. We don’t do that much in life, but there is a point when we are finally, surely, out of time. We don’t measure our life by time, but in a sense it is. We have a breath, a gasp, then nothingness and we’re out of time. Solomon and James would liken time to a vapor. It rises for a moment, then is blown away by the wind.
We cannot hasten time nor can we stop time; it marches ever onward. We take pills, have surgeries to stop the progress of time, but in reality it takes its toll. Look in the mirror, I dare you, and you can see the effects of time. Throughout life we may have missed an opportunity because we didn’t think the time was right. We may have missed an important appointment because we wasted time and were late. What is the old saying, “Time stands still for nobody.”
Be sure of this, in all of the hustle and bustle of life. In the midst of the hurrying and scurrying we cannot hasten time, it moves one second at a time, never faster, never slower. One thing, however, you can count on is that the “Lord keeps all the great opportunities and appointments in His own hand.” (Joseph Parker) He’s never late, nor is He ever early. He never misses an appointment and His schedule is right on time–all the time. If we could but learn to trust Him, leave things in His hand yet do our part as much as we humanly can, these would run smoother and better for us. Parker states, “If we could but know our limitations and quietly work within them, we should live in a holy and quiet sanctuary, we should not attempt to hasten anything.” We would leave the clock in the hands of God.
We must realize that in our life there are opportune and inopportune moments in life. It is more important that we allow our lives to rest in the providence of God’s timing. (I use that concept lightly for we must realize that it is us that lives and works in time; God is outside of time.) Do not attempt to be a little god and hasten the coming of an event. Christmas will not get here any sooner even if you celebrate it every month. We dare not tell God to do this and do it at such-and-such a time. Leave it in His hands.
The conveniency of time is something that we take ever so lightly. Let me give an example by Joseph Parker, “Men can make it convenient to go to church, or they can make it extremely inconvenient to go and hear the word of the Lord. There are times, of course, when circumstances do seem to combine against the most honest desire, but there are other occasions when we can so arrange matters as to make our convenience the standard of divine purpose. Let every man examine himself…” We can arrange things to make it more convenient to go, or we can arrange our schedule making it inconvenient to go. We can make time to pray and study the Bible, or it can become an inconvenient nuisance to us.
“O the danger! The temptation! The pits that lie hidden on life’s rugged road!” (Joseph Parker) Do we dare take the next step, or do we say that we will wait for a more convenient time? That hedge that is in my way when I go to study my Bible, should I cut it down now, or perhaps, wait for a more convenient time? The question becomes–what is a more convenient time? The time is before you, choose therefore, the right time. Let me close with some a final admonition from Parker, “I will trust in Christ, I will say to my Savior, Still lead on; through desert or through gardenland, still lead on; through deep waters, through rocky places, still lead on; through flowery gardens, through balmy air, across velvet sward, still lead on; and let me do nothing before the time.”
————————————-
“Now it came to pass, when the TIME had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.”
–Luke 9:51(NKJV)
“Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to come to you with the brethren, but he was quite unwilling to come at this time; however, he will come when he has a convenient TIME.”
–1 Corinthians 16:12 (NKJV)
“To everything there is a season, a TIME for every purpose under heaven.”
–Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)
Notice the emphasis on the word “Time.” We often look at time with contempt. “I’m out of time.” When I coached basketball, when the game was close and towards the final buzzer I kept noticing the time. I would find myself checking out the time clock. We don’t do that much in life, but there is a point when we are finally, surely, out of time. We don’t measure our life by time, but in a sense it is. We have a breath, a gasp, then nothingness and we’re out of time. Solomon and James would liken time to a vapor. It rises for a moment, then is blown away by the wind.
We cannot hasten time nor can we stop time; it marches ever onward. We take pills, have surgeries to stop the progress of time, but in reality it takes its toll. Look in the mirror, I dare you, and you can see the effects of time. Throughout life we may have missed an opportunity because we didn’t think the time was right. We may have missed an important appointment because we wasted time and were late. What is the old saying, “Time stands still for nobody.”
Be sure of this, in all of the hustle and bustle of life. In the midst of the hurrying and scurrying we cannot hasten time, it moves one second at a time, never faster, never slower. One thing, however, you can count on is that the “Lord keeps all the great opportunities and appointments in His own hand.” (Joseph Parker) He’s never late, nor is He ever early. He never misses an appointment and His schedule is right on time–all the time. If we could but learn to trust Him, leave things in His hand yet do our part as much as we humanly can, these would run smoother and better for us. Parker states, “If we could but know our limitations and quietly work within them, we should live in a holy and quiet sanctuary, we should not attempt to hasten anything.” We would leave the clock in the hands of God.
We must realize that in our life there are opportune and inopportune moments in life. It is more important that we allow our lives to rest in the providence of God’s timing. (I use that concept lightly for we must realize that it is us that lives and works in time; God is outside of time.) Do not attempt to be a little god and hasten the coming of an event. Christmas will not get here any sooner even if you celebrate it every month. We dare not tell God to do this and do it at such-and-such a time. Leave it in His hands.
The conveniency of time is something that we take ever so lightly. Let me give an example by Joseph Parker, “Men can make it convenient to go to church, or they can make it extremely inconvenient to go and hear the word of the Lord. There are times, of course, when circumstances do seem to combine against the most honest desire, but there are other occasions when we can so arrange matters as to make our convenience the standard of divine purpose. Let every man examine himself…” We can arrange things to make it more convenient to go, or we can arrange our schedule making it inconvenient to go. We can make time to pray and study the Bible, or it can become an inconvenient nuisance to us.
“O the danger! The temptation! The pits that lie hidden on life’s rugged road!” (Joseph Parker) Do we dare take the next step, or do we say that we will wait for a more convenient time? That hedge that is in my way when I go to study my Bible, should I cut it down now, or perhaps, wait for a more convenient time? The question becomes–what is a more convenient time? The time is before you, choose therefore, the right time. Let me close with some a final admonition from Parker, “I will trust in Christ, I will say to my Savior, Still lead on; through desert or through gardenland, still lead on; through deep waters, through rocky places, still lead on; through flowery gardens, through balmy air, across velvet sward, still lead on; and let me do nothing before the time.”