If you would like to hear an audio version of this post, you can find it here.
As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me.
Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.”
Mark 9:4-5
Mike and I were enjoying a nice hike on an anniversary trip to Alaska twenty years ago. We became engrossed in conversation as we surveyed the beautiful scenery. Then, Mike turned to me, “What time is it?” I looked at my watch, shocked to discover the time read 11 p.m.
Alaska Time
Alaskans call the middle of May to the end of July the Midnight Sun season. During this period, the sun does not really seem to set, and the sky never truly grows dark. Contrast that with what happens in the winter months where, depending on the location, the sun shines for only 4 or 5 hours each day.
In Alaska, each season calls for different activities. We would not have been hiking in December at 11 p.m. Similarly, as we travel with the Father, he gives us different tasks for our lives depending on our time of life. Parents with young children have different tasks from a single person. Empty nesters have another set of tasks. How we use the time changes.
Jesus’ Timing
In the passage I quoted in the opening, the disciples would only have Jesus, the light of the world, with them for a short time—three years. They then entered a different season of ministry without his physical presence, though with the power of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes my husband will wish we could just go back for a day and enjoy our children when they were little. But we can't. Once that season is over, we cannot get the time back. Jesus used the time he had well, and we need to make sure we do, too.
Your Timing
Today, talk to God about his timing. What work has he given you to do today, that may not be possible tomorrow? Where should your focus be? Though I made broad statements above, the truth is that God’s call is individual. So one empty nester might be called to minister to her parents, another to an adult child, another to an overseas ministry. God gives some of us, like my husband's grandmother who lived until 102, quite a bit of time. Others, like a friend of my daughter, who died at 18, have much less. God is the timekeeper.
Perhaps, you want to use your time one way, but circumstances are preventing you from doing so. I talked in this post about those times when you are ready to serve, but God seems to have you on the sidelines. The truth is we do not see the whole picture. Each day, I ask God to help me use my time the way he wants me to.
Dear Lord,
You are the timekeeper and you know the days ordained for us. We ask that you would show us how to spend our time wisely, and how to do the right thing at the right time.
Amen