Cheryl Dale – Climbing Out of the Valley

I was feeling my recurring frustration the other day over never having enough time to keep up on all I have to do, want to do and need to do.

Time is such a slippery commodity. Great plans can be sabotaged by the wasting of it. Great things can happen in a fraction of it. And great regret can be felt at the passing of it. My thoughts led me to how God values time. A few amazing contrasts came to mind.

God created the world in just six days. What a glorious, monstrous accomplishment in such a short time, right?

The Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. There is nothing noteworthy that they accomplished other than the passing of an entire generation. What an incredible waste of a very long period of time.

Jonah was in the whale’s belly for three days – a short time compared to many events recorded in the Bible. But I would guess that for Jonah those three days felt like an eternity.

Jesus ministered for three short years and yet was able to completely alter the course of history while accomplishing a direct route to eternal life. In the end, when you examine His prayers, He never asked for more time. He used the time He was allowed to complete the task He was assigned.

We all have the same number of minutes in a day, the same number of days in a week and weeks in a year. We get to make the choice whether to wander around like the Israelites, veer off course like Jonah, or make the best use of the time we have like Jesus.

As a Christian those choices apply to my ministry.  As a writer those choices apply to my writing. As a wife, mother, grandmother, Human Resource Director – for every role I play, the same choices are before me.

God, in His infinite and perfect wisdom, gave each of us enough time in this lifetime regardless of how long the lifetime lasts. And, praise the Lord, we won’t have to worry about time in the next because it’s infinite.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. Ecclesiastes 3:1