It’s January, when all the resolutions birthed on New Year’s Eve are still in their adorable infancy and not yet the moody teen tyrants they will probably become in a few months.
I no longer make New Year’s resolutions. I decided I don’t need any more ammo to load into my self-condemnation cannon. If my mother’s voice in my head and the Holy Spirit in my heart warning, “Should you really eat … or buy … or do that?” doesn’t keep me in line, I know a New Year’s resolution isn’t going to.
But before I got off the New Year’s resolution train to Failureville, I did make one vow that has served me well in my effort to reduce stress in my life. It’s not exactly earth-shattering, but I’ll share it for those of you who, like me, are a bit obsessive about being on time when you go places.
My mantra, much to the dismay of my husband, is, “If I’m not five minutes early, I’m not on time.” I need a few extra minutes to settle in and relax when I get someplace. I absolutely hate to fly in at the last second and feel discombobbled. A little extra waiting is a small price to pay for some peace, if you ask me.
But stuff does happen and occasionally I find myself running late. The pre-resolution me constantly checked my watch or the car clock and about blew a stress gasket as I calculated, re-calculated and fretted about how late I was going to be.
Not anymore. Not since I resolved to ignore the time once I’m in the car. After all, what good does it do? Why check the time if it will only wind me up tighter than a two-dollar watch?
Ignorance truly is sometimes more blissful … except when it’s not. Like the time I attended a three-day retreat where we were never allowed to know what time it was. Watches, clocks and phones were forbidden and it about drove me nuts. Had it lasted another day, I’m pretty sure I would’ve built my own sundial.
I know the retreat leaders were trying to temporarily free us from the tyranny of time, but the fact is, God created time and decreed that we would live within its boundaries while we inhabit this earth.
Why? Maybe the answer is found in Psalm 90:12: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
Without time there would be no deadlines or expiration dates, and without those, how many of us would foolishly put off important tasks and decisions?
God has ordained our days (Psalm 139:16) and I think He wants us to be mindful of that so we’ll feel the urgency of wisely prioritizing our lives, starting with the most important thing: making right our relationship with Him through faith in His Son, Jesus.
We can ignore God’s ticking clock the way I ignore the clock in my car, but we do so at our own peril. It may feel less stressful in the short term to pretend God doesn’t exist and His Word isn’t true, but that kind of ignorance isn’t bliss, it’s crazy.
After Paul exhorts us to “know the time” in Romans 13, he goes on to write, “… it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near.”
A popular ’70s song asked, “Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?”
Yes. God does and we should.
“… Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2).”