Our Hope: The Sands of Time

‘He said to them: It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority.’ Acts 1:7 (NIV)

God has His own timetable.  He alone knows when all things will happen.  Even Jesus does not know the exact time and day of His own return.  Because time is in God’s hands, we can trust that events will happen at the right time, the appointed time.

God holds all time in His hands, not just the time of events.  He holds every second of our day and night.  He counts them as grains of sand, and as they trickle through the hourglass, or tic-toc on the clock, the days and hours of our lives slowly dwindle.  This process began when we were conceived.  To be born also means to die.  God has already set the time and method of our earthly demise.  That is not really important when we consider all the grains of sand in between birth and death.  What is important is what we do with those grains, with our time.

Since God holds our time in His hands, we must learn to respect and honor Him for it.  Therefore, it is our responsibility to use each minute of time He has given us in a way that will bring honor and glory to Him.  We all want to live a full, prosperous, and happy life.  There is nothing wrong with that.  God wants us to enjoy life as well.  It is a precious gift but if we squander it, we dishonor Him.  If we use it as He has designed us to use it, then we will not only please Him, we will be content with each grain of sand, with each moment in time, and we will have touched lives for the Kingdom.

So let’s not worry about time running out, about lost time, or if Jesus will return on Wednesday or Sunday.  Let’s instead serve and live and love, and all the things of time will take care of themselves, just as God has planned.  He is Our Hope, and therefore one day He will reveal to us the mystery, not only of time, but of all things.  We will also see that time is a tool God uses to bring us to saving faith and trust in Him.  When we understand that one day we will leave the continuum of time as we know it, and move into the timeless realm of Heaven, the sands of time will represent life well lived.

‘And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment — to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.’ Ephesians 1:5

Blessings!