Baxter can’t tell time. I wish he could. If he could, then I hopefully wouldn’t have to endure his cries to eat an hour before his feeding time. On numerous occasions I have told Baxter it’s not time now for dinner, but he simply ignores my assertions. When he feels hunger in his belly, he will not be deterred. The time of day doesn’t matter. Only the feeling in his stomach counts, and that feeling makes him shout in cat talk, “FEED ME!” Nothing else matters when Baxter feels hungry. The whole world becomes focused for him on the feeding dish which he demands to be filled. He paces around it, pulls at it, and cuddles up to it with his head—all in hopes of satisfying his immediate craving.
We can’t tell time either, at least not God’s time. If we could read the eternal clock of the divine, we might not be so anxious and upset about what is happening or not happening around us. We want what we want when we want it, and we won’t take any reasons for a delay or substitution. But God sometimes operates on a different time table. He unfolds our lives at a pace measured by what we need now to grow in His grace and wisdom. That sometimes means that we don’t get the normal object of our desires, so that we can desire a different object and begin to value things differently. We find a new normal. Lose a job, get seriously sick, fall in love, or discover a new talent, and we can be stopped in our tracks. Suddenly, our priorities change, and some of what was once critical for our daily happiness and satisfaction is no longer sought after or even crosses our minds. What drives our time and attention shifts, and we follow a new course in our daily living.
Such transitions are not always easy. We may feel lost for a while, not knowing what we are looking for or where to find it. We may feel unsure of ourselves, wondering what is going to happen to what we worked for long and hard. We may worry about the unknown future and our ability to handle it. All of this because we can’t tell time, God’s time.
God’s time allows us to learn what we need to cherish and hold onto, and what we need to relinquish. God’s time is not even. Sometimes events cascade quickly, and sometimes they are painstakingly slow in showing us what’s to come. God’s time moves us. We don’t determine its length or direction. We must accept its course when it unfolds. But one thing is sure. God’s time will come for every one of us, and if we are watching and waiting for it, we will be changed for the better when it happens. And when the last hour of God’s time strikes, we will be transformed forever into the timeless realm of eternity.
So don’t worry about what we are to eat or drink, our Father knows what we need and He will grant it. Worry that we are ready for the time God has planned for us, and can enter into it with peace and hope. If Baxter could tell time, he would know that another meal is coming without fretting and fussing about it. If we begin to tell God’s time in our living, we too will know that we are cared for and loved no matter what comes our way.
