Renewing the Time

Well, it should be decidedly apparent that school and blog have not coincided recently. Sigh. I just cannot see how to write something uplifting about the Soviet Union. Perhaps later you will get a garish report on something or other from that period in history, but for now, relax.

Seriously. Relax.

You see, this post is about something I have learned outside the laptop screen classroom in the past few months: time. If there is one thing about which I do not relax, time has to be it. Have you ever met those planners who schedule their life to the minute or, dare I say, second? You know the type I am sketching. "Can you take a break and read this?" Uh, no. In two and a half minutes I have to start writing that blog post (hehe). "Hey, that school presentation was great! Do you have a sec to answer a question I have?" Hello? I need to be out the door in precisely...now...so, no, I cannot give you a sec.

Yeah, I knew you knew the type.

Because you know me! That is me all over. For the longest time, I thought it was more virtuous to be rigidly scheduled, organizer in hand and day snugly packed into fifteen-minute segments. An airtight chart equaled more productivity, more action, more reward - more. Should we not squeeze as many strikes out of the clock as is remotely possibly for our mortal frames? Is that not the essence of redeeming the time?

If only I realized there was more to life than time. Now, before I go on, I have to disclaim myself. Again. I still use schedules. They are not evil. I still wear a wrist-watch and frequently take a peep at my clock. We still eat dinner at a regular time and wake up by a certain hour. Don't picture me smashing all time-keeping machines, burning planners, and eating bon-bons all day. K? Because there is. Did you know that when this world burns up, time as we generally recognize it will go to Neverland, too? I always knew this in my head, but the repercussions of the concept took a while to dawn on me. If I am living for seconds and minutes, I am living for something that will go down in flames. What lasts is people, the Church, the City of God. What I do for that entity is what truly lasts.

But wait. Do we not need time to dedicate ourselves to an endeavour, including the Church? Yes, we do! We must take advantage of the time allotted us and give it to His will. And, no, I am not contradicting myself. Maybe Greek will make it more clear for you, as it did for me (once more, hehe). Chronos and Kairos. These are the two Greek words for time. Chronos deals with quantity time, the time that goes tick-tock. Think sundials, Big Ben, and kitchen timers. Kairos describes quality time. Imagine a family dinner, a heart-to-heart with a friend, a conundrum on the job that will either enhance your character or tarnish it. Chronos time helps us humans make the best of Kairos time. One is not "bad" and the other "good", the first just facilitates the latter. Nonetheless, many of us are burning out in order to beat the clock rather than embracing the opportunities it happens to offer us. Alert: we cannot squeeze another second out of the tick-tock (Matthew 6:27). We have so many tick-tocks given us and nothing more, no matter how hard we try to get another tick (or tock). Ya get what I am saying?

There is something we can do about opportunities, though. We can waste the circumstances God give us or use them for His glory. In fact, remember those verses, Ephesians 5:15-16? "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil." Well, guess what word is used for time here. Ding ding ding! Kairos, quality time. We are to redeem the opportunities God furnishes us, putting them towards His service. At times, that means sacrificing our little schedule to grasp the bigger picture of what God is doing in His Bride. It means we will have to put our time-chart in God's hands -  yet another area in which to relinquish control - and dispose of time as what it is: God's clock, God's opportunities, gifted to us to further His Kingdom.

My task for Becoming a Fair Lady right now is loosening my grip on the schedule (even though I still use it), and opening it up to God's plans for my life. It echoes Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps." Let's plan, but let's plan on that plan being broken for God's glory, and thank Him for it.

So...yeah...That's it. Not a good ending, I know. *Cheesy Grin*


*I would like to thank Dr. Jeff Myers from Summit Ministries for enlightening me on this subject!