Time

Do you feel like you are pushing against time? Either it is moving too fast or too slow for your liking (I think too fast is usually the consensus). I've been struck lately with the passing of time and realizing that it is one thing we cannot control. What we DO with the time, yes, but the passing of it in general, no.

Time has always baffled me. There are some things that will just never really make sense in my mind, but I just accept them. Honestly, I don't really "get" how time works....time zones, mostly. I know it has to do with the sun and the moon and the earth's rotation. Whatever. Other things I don't understand? How faxes work. Why the country can't just print more money if we need it so badly. How Abigail remembers details from when she was two. It's okay if you think I obviously missed some really important lessons in school. I'm good with the not understanding.

I have been learning about God being outside the confines of time. And I think by learning this seemingly simple, yet profound, concept, we can understand the character of God better. I remember Paul preaching about this once. He kind of drew a line with his hands to show Time from beginning to end. Then he showed how we are somewhere in that line. Then he showed how he was standing outside of it, like God being able to look at the line and see the beginning to the end. He was outside of it.

Our church is currently in the process of building. It is seven years in, and we are getting to the point of having to make some pretty big decisions. A friend of mine, a wonderful prayer partner, emailed me the other day to tell me that as she had prayed for our church, it was impressed upon her that God already knew the decisions that needed to be made for our church. It wasn't our job to "make" the decisions, only to discern them from God's plans. His plans had been set for our church before the foundations of the world because GOD IS OUTSIDE OF TIME. He wasn't waiting for this moment, for these few years, to start the planning process. We didn't get the idea to add on to the church and ask God to climb on board. This was part of the plan BEFORE TIME.

My friend Mandi passed away on Saturday from a battle with cancer. She was only 34. She leaves behind a husband and two young kids, tons of family, and friends who will miss her dearly. We don't understand why someone as faithful and loving as Mandi would have to leave this earth so soon. Didn't she have so much left to do? There are so many questions as we grasp to know why. But God...He is outside of Time. He could see before she was born when her task would be finished. And even though her physical task is now finished, we know that God can see all of time....years ahead, and people who will continue to be changed because she lived. Time has not stopped. We grieve because we cannot see what He can.

I am finding comfort in a God of heaven and earth who exists outside of Time. He is not limited by us or by worldly events or circumstances. He is not surprised by our ideas, our illnesses, our questions. That makes me know I don't have to understand it all, and to me, that is comfort.