It's about time

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Time. What an invasive, elusive phenomenon that we all manage every day of our lives. We schedule everything based off of time: when we wake up, when we drive somewhere, when our meetings are, when our deadlines are, when we get off of work, when we get out of school, when we get to go home, when we have a special event. It all revolves around time and how we interact with it. Recently I have been finding that my relationship with time has been a little off kilter. Working new hours, travelling different places, the sun setting earlier, and more has all impacted how I am spending my time. I find that I am spending less time with my loved ones, more time at work, and trying to get my feet under me with a rhythm. It is taking a bit of time, but I am sure I will get there eventually.

When considering how to approach my topic for this week, I really wanted to emphasize the value of time and how important it is to respect the role that it plays in our lives. I think it can really be easy for time to slip away from us, like when we are scrolling through Facebook, researching for a paper, taking a nap, and so on. In these instances, we can reflect on the time we had and how we spent it either appreciating the ability to spend our time this way or we can regret the way that it seemed to slip through our fingers when we were only going to be doing the task for a quick minute. When we jam-pack our schedules, we can easily find that our time is filled with to-dos, and in these instances, when we have free time and accidentally waste it, it can be disappointing. Regardless, the reflection is really the missing piece for so many of us. If we do not value our time, we lose chances to seek growth, heal our souls, and look for God around us and in us. In this way, we can begin to see how not only our relationship with time impacts every aspect of our lives, but also how our reflection on how we spend our time can help point out areas where we could do better and emphasize the ways we seek out the Lord.

I entitled this article 'It's about time' because of the Tracy Byrd song with the same title (you can listen to it here: It's About Time - Tracy Byrd - YouTube). For those of you who have not heard the song, it describes a husband who is so wrapped up in his work life who comes home to a note from his wife expressing how time is more important than the money he is spending so much time chasing. He realizes that it is about time that he needs to be giving to the most important parts of his life. I am zooming in on this song for the meat of this article because of how easy it can be for us to let time slip away. All of a sudden, we find ourselves exhausted and drained and we have no energy or spare time to give to the things we love the most and the people we love the most. Not only does this directly impact our relationship with ourselves and our loved ones, but it also affects our relationship with God.

When we get caught up in the rat-race of life, we can quickly see the time we had set aside for God has slipped away. When we are so exhausted from the commitments of the day, we can fall asleep before we say our evening prayers and oversleep our alarms in the morning to miss our morning prayers. God understands, right? Well, of course He does, but in these busy seasons in life, God does not want us to use it as an excuse to distance ourselves from Him, He wants us to instead step up to the challenge and find a way to manage the time He has given us in the day to seek Him out. Not only is it important to make time for God, but it is vital that we prioritize this time first, before dividing out our time to everything and everyone else. 1 Chronicles 16:11 says "Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always." Recognizing how when everything we do and every other way we spend time comes back to our foundation with the Lord can help put into perspective the importance of time with God.

Truly, when it comes to any relationship, it will crumble if it is not given any time. How many of you still speak with your kindergarten best friend? How about your group partner? Your ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend? Probably not many of you. Why have these relationships fallen apart? Well the fact that you have grown and changed goes hand in hand with the fact you no longer give these relationships any time in your life. You do not spend time with your kindergarten friend, you do not communicate with your group partner, you no longer see or speak with your ex on a regular basis. When you are not consistently making time for people in your life, the relationship fades into the background. It is no different when we consider our relationship with the Lord and how our time with Him impacts it.

The more time we spend with God, the stronger our relationship with Him gets. It's about time. When we strip away all of the other things in life that demand our attention and energy, we can clearly see that our relationship with God depends on how much time we give it. As mentioned earlier, it can be a little too simple for us to put Him on the backburner while we wait for life to slow down. However, when we abandon the practice of reflecting upon how much time we have spent with the Lord is when we fail to recognize that we are no longer giving time to God, time to talk with Him, look for Him, thank Him, and so on. My point in emphasizing how important time is in regard to our relationship with God is to highlight how when we make God's relationship a priority, everything else in life becomes a little clearer, a little easier to handle, and all of our other relationships can be built off of the roots we have planted firmly in Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:17 points out "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." This verse does not say that we should only do some things in the name of the Lord, no, it is directly telling us that everything we do is based off of Him and His name. The only way we can accomplish this goal is by making time for God in our lives, prioritizing the relationship we have with Him and recognizing how important it is to do so.

When we lose our time because we have soaked ourselves in working extra and long hours, when we get caught up in social media, when we give our time and attention to earthly relationships first, and we no longer prioritize the time we spend with God, our lives can become a muddy mess. And I want to point out that working long hours, being on the phone, and spending time with friends are all fine and healthy habits when in balance with the rest of the time you spend, however my emphasis is on when they are not in balance. The problem is when we put God at the bottom of our list and we make time and spend time on things that are away from God. When all of the hours of the day are used up and we have nothing left for Him, we can then find that we no longer have a positive attitude, we cannot make it past our exhaustion, and the devil sneaks in to tempt us in a moment of hazy confusion. Everything begins to feel a little off kilter when we no longer give any time to God and that is when we begin to notice the confusion that invites the devil into our lives. Our relationship with Him is dependent upon how much time we spend with His word, in His presence, and in prayer. Matthew 6:33 tells us "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." The key word here is first. Everything else falls into place when we prioritize the relationship we have with God and the time we spend with Him.

As easy as it can be to let time slip away from us, if we continue to prioritize the time we spend in prayer with God, talking with Him, building a relationship with Him, the clearer our lives become. We can recognize when we need to adjust the time we spend on some things versus others, we can see how the devil uses our exhaustion and distraction to tempt us away from the Lord, and we can find peace in the business of our day-to-day. Matthew 5:6 tells us "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." This verse further emphasizes that when we seek God and continue to put time with Him first, everything else in life stabilizes, we value our time more, and we spend it on the things that are most important. At the end of the day, it's about time and how we spend it. Everything we do, every relationship we have, and more are all directly impacted by focusing on the time we give to building an intimate relationship with God.