Where does the time go?

When summer began, six long weeks ago, I hoped to accomplish much. The goal: get it done early and relax. Put the office together and get it organized. Finally. A place for everything and everything in its place. Today, there's beautiful furniture in the office. And boxes and boxes and boxes of papers. Stacked everywhere. Half done. I know it's there, but I shut the door. If I don't peek inside, I won't have to finish it. Right?

Can you relate? (Oh, Please tell me I'm not the only one!)

Maybe you've been meaning to organize your laundry room or pantry -- so you can find things more easily? Maybe your summer plan included doing more with the kids, but you've fallen into the same rut you do every summer, letting the days slip away unnoticed? Maybe you've been meaning to spend quality time with God every morning -- you know it will help you grow, but for some reason (or no reason), it just doesn't happen?

Time.

It's the one gift God gives that can't grow. Faith grows if we trust in Him. Wisdom grows as we gain knowledge and understanding. Trust grows when we face our fears in God's confidence. But not time.  Psalm 139:16 says, "Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence." Time is the one gift God gives that can't grow.

Job faced trials beyond anyone's imagining, losing his entire family, his riches, his health. Yet he understood time. He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will return there. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. May the name of the Lord be blessed!" (Job 1:21). Job understood that life is not about what we gain here on earth. It's not about our pain or sorrow. Our lives, the good and the bad, are meant to be used to praise God. Plain and simple. Live for God -- every day that you have. Because when it's all said and done, that's all we really have: The life that God gives.

Time. The one gift God gives that can't grow.

My office waits. I know that organizing those papers will help me use the time I have more effectively. I know that each day with my kids means one day less to spend with them. I know that each day I don't spend with God means one day less to learn all the incredible truths He has just for me.

Yet I sit in my jammies -- it's 9:30 a.m. -- waiting for the day to begin.

Time.

Dear Lord, help me understand this precious gift you have given. Help me choose to invest my time in the things that matter to you. Order my days, guide my steps. Help me become like Job -- praising you through all the ups and downs. Rejoicing in YOU regardless of what the day looks like. Help me remember this precious gift of time and help me use it wisely. In Jesus' precious name I pray. Amen