Sunday September 22, 2019
Time Keeper
“My times are in Your hand.” What a powerful display of faith and trust. So often though, our time is in our own hands, We are very “clock-driven.” We plan entire days around time. We design work, family, recreation, and even worship around tightly fashioned schedules. We wrongly believe that our time is our own. It’s not. It’s His.
In saying “My times are in Your hand,” David was expressing his belief that all of life’s circumstances are under God’s sovereign control. His cry of deliverance (Ps.31:1-13) is climaxed with one beautiful confession of faith, “But I trust You, O Lord” (Ps.31:14). David found hope, strength, and relief in the hand of the Time Keeper.
The Hebrew word picture for time is, “time conceived as an opportunity.” Its root meaning is “duration, experiences, filling of time.” What David is really saying is “My times of opportunity, all my experiences, and the filling of my time are all in Your hand.” Talk about a powerful revelation!
David’s son Solomon knew more about time than anyone else. After he had been supremely blessed with the wisdom of God and after he had lived a long prosperous life, he wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. It is here that he declares, “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecc.1:3). Whose purpose? God’s purpose. It is interesting to note that the word purpose means “valuable thing.” The Amplified Bible says,
There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven. (Ecc.3:1 AMP)
Our times are appointed by the Lord (Acts 17:26). There is no such thing as useless time. There is a set time and a set season for everything that the Lord has in store for you in life. Understanding your times and seasons will help prevent you from making a lot of mistakes in the future. It will also help prevent you from making wrong turns and unwise decisions in your life. If you understand the season, you will know if it is the right time for you to make a move. (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of useless)
We are told to make the most of our time, and conduct ourselves with holy fear during that time on earth (1 Pet.1:17). Knowing that God loves us and cares for us enables us to stay steady in our faith regardless of the times. It keeps us from sinning foolishly by taking time into our own hands or resenting God’s timetable.
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (Eph.5:15-16)
The word “redeeming” in the Greek can mean “to buy up, ransom, or rescue from loss.” We need to rescue from loss the time that remains in our life. We can only redeem today and plan to redeem tomorrow, for yesterday is gone! We alone are responsible for using what God has given to each of us…time. We must rescue or recover our time from waste…to improve it for great and important purposes. But only God can show us how.
When we make our time His time…when we give Him our times…when we use His time for Him something amazing happens…
He makes everything beautiful in its time. (Ecc.3:11)
Aren’t you glad He is the Time Keeper?