The previous blogpost included these words
So often in our fast paced, instant, rushing world, we have to pause a little longer if we are going to be able to see, what is actually there all along....stuff we just don't see because either we don't take the time to linger in observation, or take the time to gain a new perspective, or take the time to wait to let the light (of truth from God's Word - Ps 119:105) increase!
and they got me thinking further....
Early on in my 'POTS' life, as I came towards my 40th birthday and contemplated my years so far and years to come, I wrote a poem about 'taking time'. Even in Africa I am surrounded by situations that want to 'take my time'. Urban Africa can sometimes seem crazy and chaotic and that can lead very easily to a sense of circumstances just pulling in all directions and 'taking time' that had been planned for something else.
I know, that sometimes what we see as 'interruptions' in life can be God's divine appointments. But on the other hand we can be so ruled by the 'need' to respond to what appears to be the 'urgent' around us all the time, that sometimes we end up doing tasks that are the exact opposite of Divine appointments. I once saw a poster that said something to the effect of : "If you truly have too many things to do in your day, there are some things that God didn't put there".
The difficulty of course is in the pressure of the moment of urgent decisions, to remember to pause long enough to ask ourselves what are priorities, and ask the Lord for His wisdom.
SAYING NO!
But I am convinced that we (that I) need to learn more about when to say 'no'. When we are children we normally learn that word 'no' first. We say 'no' when we don't want to do something asked of us. There is nothing wrong with the word, however. We just have mis-placed (wrongly placed) where we should use it. We should be saying 'no' when God doesn't want us to do what others ask of us or what we may want to do ourselves.
When we say 'no' to demands or even kind requests of others, in order to say 'yes' to what God wants us to do with our time, we are not doing wrong, but doing right. In a sense we are choosing to 'take time' for what God wants, instead of letting other people and things 'take our time'....or rather 'take the time God has given us to do His will'! I used to tell counsellees and those I taught 'Time Management' to that 'We must learn to say no to the things we should say no to, so that we can be free to say yes to the things we should say yes to'.... I could take that one step further to say: "We must learn to say no to the people we should say no to so that we can say yes to God who we should be saying yes to". (and that's whether the 'people' are others or ourselves!)
REDEEM THE TIME
As we 'take time', we are doing what Scripture commands us to do when it says to 'redeem the time for the days are evil'. (Eph 5:16) I once thought this meant we should make the most of time, because time is short and so we must get 'busy' doing God's work before time runs out! But this just puts us on the world's busy track of overwork, exhaustion, task over relationships and people-pleasing over God-pleasing.
I have come to a whole new understanding of what it means to 'redeem the time'.....since redeem means to 'buy back'. Instead of just being 'busy about God's work', we are instead meant to be on God's agenda and simply use the time the way He wants. We are to rest when he wants us to rest, talk when he wants us to talk, be quiet when he wants us to be quiet, listen when he wants us to listen, be thankful when he wants us to be thankful (which is always), rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, and most of all take time to gain His perspective, understand His truth, rest in His love, and remember to walk in His strength.
We are to fill our lives with the priorities that surround this command in Ephesians 5 - God's priorities for us, instead of the evil priorities of this world. This passage is chock-full with guidance for priorities that will honour the Lord with our time - I encourage you to re-read the whole chapter.
It is interesting that the example in Scripture immediately following verse 16 of Ephesians chapter 5, (in the context of the intervening phrase 'do not be unwise but understand what the will of the Lord is').... is that of letting many hours or days or more of life being 'taken' in abusing alcohol by getting drunk (- and the many hours of lost additional time from hangovers or foolish actions while being drunk that lead to all kinds of other matters that will 'take time' to sort out) - a foolish choice with time-stealing consequences. Scripture then gives us the better God honouring option of instead being filled with the Spirit and letting God's Wisdom and Will so consume us that we are sensitive to His guidance and direction for how to 'take back the time' that would otherwise be filled with foolish and evil pursuits. After all, our 'time' is our 'life' - what we fill our time with is what we fill our life with - if we want our life to be God-honouring, our time has to be God-honouring.
I know I need to be so careful not to let circumstances buffet me along in life and 'take time' that God wants allocated to something else. When I do, I end up being 'captive' to foolish (unwise) choices and the evil priorities of this world and their accompanying stress. Instead I need to be 'praying without ceasing' - constantly and vigilantly bringing God into my situations, seeking His will and priorities ensuring that I am taking time to do His will, and that is so easy to forget to do.
But if I focus on seeking God's will for my time, there won't be time left for the evil priorities of this world!...ie the principle of 'if we live by the Spirit we will not fulfil the desires of the flesh'. (Galatians 5:16)
Here is the poem I wrote some time back that helped me summarise some of God's priorities for my time - priorities that I need to remind myself of again and again and again!
Take time to smell the roses,
Take time to hear the bees,
Take time to watch the sunrise,
Take time to feel the breeze.
Take time to taste God's goodness,
In His Word hear His voice,
Take time to feel His strong arms,
Trust Him, rest and rejoice.
Take time to know Him deeply,
Serve others, grow in grace,
Take time to seek His glory,
Sin aside, let's run the race.
Take time, Yes, Christ is in you,
Focus and depend on Him,
His life lived in and through you,
Is your vict'ry over sin.
Take time, look to God in prayer
Give your worries to the Lord
He will work it all for good
As He promised in His Word.
Take time, your home is coming,
Don't rush or lag behind,
Take time, follow God's agenda,
Soon you'll see Heaven's prize.
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