Just in Time!

“Time is against me.”

“Time does not allow.”

“I can’t keep up with time.” (i.e. “Time leaves me behind.”)

“I am out of time.”

Could it be, that these frustrations and outcry against “ALMIGHTY” TIME, that especially us adults have, are due to the expectations we place on ourselves that are not necessarily godly?  We measure our success by how much we get done and accomplish in the least amount of time in comparison to others.  Then, when we fail to get anything accomplished in time, we feel like we have failed the world and that we are useless, worthless human beings.  What a shame!

I, for instance, am a 30-year-old, unmarried, and unaccomplished (according to my standards) woman.  According to my plans, I should have been married by the age of 26.  For a long time, I was just waiting for the right guy to come along, trying to survive life until that time when we meet; and then I’d be able to work on doing the things I have always dreamed of doing and make a difference in this world.  (I know, somewhat pathetic.) Then it dawned on me.  What if I never marry?  Am I just going to pass through life without using the gifts that God has placed in me to make a difference in this world?  Or, what if I do get married, and then something happens and I become a widow?  Is my life dependent on a man, who is frail like anybody else?

So, I look at my life, and it’s easy to feel like I have wasted so much time waiting- waiting to be discovered, waiting to be chosen, waiting to be the one, waiting, waiting, waiting.  While waiting, I have studied subjects I wanted to learn and gone through trainings I feel would help me be the person I was created to be. Meanwhile, there are people hungry and thirsty, sick and dying.  Then I realized I cannot wait any longer.  I cannot keep studying and be in training forever.  I must be the person I was created to be NOW.  I cannot just try to pass time and survive life for myself.  I should, rather, spend my life for others.  For, who knows how long I’ll live, but God?  I cannot assume that I will still be here tomorrow.

Should I then quit my job and go where all the obviously destitute live?  Only if God calls me to.  What if all my failures and “time wasting” that brought me to this place in my life are actually the perfect ingredients to make me strong and allow me to understand that there could be at least one destitute soul that I am here for at just the right time to give of myself to?  What if my life was not meant to be some grand display for everyone to see?  Could my whole life be a preparation for that one moment that would make a lifetime of difference in another?  Will I be okay with that?

Until I am ready and willing to make a difference in at least one person’s life, all I am is a body trapped in time.  When I readily give of myself to another who is in need, I transcend time.  Then I know that time is not my god, but my God is the God who created time.  When I surrender my life to Him, time ceases to be master; but the truly ALMIGHTY GOD orchestrates all my experiences, all my emotions, all that makes me who I am to be here just in time for His purposes in this moment.

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DREAMS, DREAMS, DREAMS, DON’T BE THE DEATH OF ME!

DREAMS, DREAMS, DREAMS, DON’T BE THE DEATH OF ME!

 There is a dream so magnificent; it scares you to the bone. It keeps you awake at night, working to make sure that it becomes yours only and doesn’t float away into someone else’s life.  It is sown deep in fear and toiled upon with great fear that by the time you live in it, you have been transformed into a wretched soul.  Anyone around you is scared of you, because they think that their dreams are in your hands.  You can offer it to them, squash it, or tear it apart.  You think you finally have it all until someday, someone more fearsome than you snatches your dream from right under your feet.  Afraid more than ever, your life ends in tragedy with no other soul to mourn or miss you.

There is a dream so wonderful; it just falls on your lap. It is an overnight sensation.  You are so much in awe; you don’t really know what to do or how to live in THE dream. So, just as easily as it becomes yours, it also quickly slips off your lap and takes your dignity with it.  Oh, don’t worry.  You are still the talk of the town.  You are mothers’ and fathers’ warning to children and the news’ item of ridicule.

There is a dream so sweet, it makes you oblivious to anything and everyone around you, except for the object of your dream. That, until truth hits you with a blow on your face and you awake to find your heart in pieces on the floor. Then, anything and everyone around you has a bitter taste to your mouth, but only because it’s flavored with the bitterness of your heart.

There is a dream so promising, you stand, sit, walk, run, jump, and even sell your soul, at its beckon call. Everyone else is a liar. Nothing else is worth your effort.  When the debt collector comes, there is no one to rescue and nothing to reach out to.  The only things you find are the haunting empty words that made you dance like a fool.

And yes, there is a dream so pure, you cannot even touch it without first going through refining fire.  The tumultuous journey “…produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” (Rom 5:3-4) Your heart goes through great pain, yet you endure because you know the pain is but the heat causing the dross to rise to the surface.  There is no storm that stops you. Everyone knows this what you are made for.  Yes, there is a dream so pure, only a heart of gold can have it.  Although your body expires, your life does not end, but multiplies in the lives of those you inspire.