Over the weekend, most of us living
in the United States gained an extra hour to use as we like. Some remembered and chose how to use the
extra time on Saturday night; others forgot and got their extra hour on Sunday
morning instead. But everyone had the
opportunity to choose what to do
with the additional time on their hands.
One of my friends suggested on social media that this was a good
opportunity to spend more time thanking God for all of the blessings we have.
As I’ve said before, I am
hopelessly purpose-driven and also a
night owl. So this day of turning back my clocks is a
favorite of mine – because I get an extra hour to get something else done
before going to bed on my usually earliest night of the week. But I have to admit that one of my least
favorite days of the year is the opposite day in the spring when clocks are set
ahead – because I have one less hour to accomplish what I need to and have to
try to go to bed earlier than usual!
I bought a new alarm clock a few
years ago that made this dreaded spring day even worse. Not realizing that it had an automatic
Daylight Savings Time setting, I moved my clock ahead before going to bed –
only to discover when I got up the next morning that the clock had moved itself
ahead as well in the middle of the night, and I was now running an hour behind
in my attempt to get to church on time!
I’m currently in the middle of
three different “waiting-room” experiences that God is walking me through, and
I have to admit that I get impatient when other people control the timeframe of
my life. All of these thoughts have me
thinking today about my relationship with time and how I choose to spend my
time every day. How much time do I
actually waste? I’m not talking about
success at finishing a project I’m working on or accomplishing a list I’ve
made. I’m pretty good at those
things. But no human has ever been as
purpose-driven as Jesus was (he only had 3 years to fulfill God’s purpose for
him on earth and had to wait 30 years before starting that purpose); yet he took the time to be distracted by people
who followed him and stopped along the way to smell the roses.
