Douglas Frank Photograph |
A Theology of Time
What is time to you? Is it something you cannot control or
just keeps rolling on? Does it go slow or fast, or does that depend? In the
beginning God said, ‘“Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate
the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in
the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth” (Genesis 1:14). Signs of sacred times, days and
years marked by the stars in the sky. Time was meant to mark part of creation
and much more as the Bible speaks of it 888 times. The Creation narrative in
Genesis marks out the seven days ending with Sabbath rest. But even in this
demarcation Peter said of the coming last days that God is not slow in keeping
His promise that He wants that none should perish but all to come to
repentance. Therefore His patience will extend for a period of time that we do
not know.
“But do not forget this one
thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (2 Peter 3:8). That’s one of those riddle-like God things
that is just plain beyond our comprehension. In a scary reminder back in the Genesis
4 & 6 people at that time began to call upon the Lord, but they were also
wicked at that time, except for Noah. God spoke throughout the early narrative,
“At
that time and at the appointed time.” You see to God there is a perfect
and appointed time. As Solomon writes, “There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). This passage often quoted at funerals tells
us that there is a time for, “being born and for dying; planting and
uprooting; killing and healing; tearing down and building up; weeping and
laughing; mourning and dancing; gathering and scattering stones; embracing or
not; searching and giving up; keeping and throwing away; tearing and mending;
being silent and speaking; loving and hating; war and peace…He has made
everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:2-8, 11). In other
words, God is in control of all time and things, and He said that we should
understand this from the beginning to the end because everything that God does
endures forever and cannot be changed whether you think so or not.
Life is a tapestry over time weaving a mosaic of patterns
for each of us, in or out of God’s will. I must admit that for the first 40
years of my life I lived for myself on my own terms or those given to me by
others. It was not God’s time honored guidance that reigned in my life. I
became a hospital executive serving as CEO of several. This led to a career as
a crisis or turnaround leader. I was sent out to troubled hospitals primarily
in the Upper Midwest. These hospitals were typically in duress financially as
well as in quality of care. Major downsizings and revamping of all systems were
required. This work meant 24/7-time and was very stressful, although sometimes
the directions taken were the only ones that would keep the hospital open.
Needless to say it was exhausting in every way. Yet I did not have an anchor at
the time other than self. However, it was in the dead of a snowy night as I was
driving home after several weeks away from family that I came to a crisis; exhausted
physically, mentally and morally. It was then in “The fullness of time that God
sent His Son,” to interrupt my life. The only radio station in the
blizzard was an invitation through Pastor/Teacher Chuck Swindoll to give up my
life and control to Him. As I knelt in the snow in my blazing headlights, like
Paul on the Damascus Road, I was changed. My time would become His, not my own.
My journey of walking in God’s way would bring a loss of career and extensive
Christian counseling. But God finally spoke through time saying audibly to me, “This
is the way; walk in it” (Isaiah 30:21). These words would launch a new
career into full-time ministry, including six years of seminary, two years of
healthcare chaplain training and now many years serving other people in crisis as
God had served me in my own, at just the appointed time.
So what do we do? Hebrews 10:12 says, “For it is time to seek the
Lord.” I agree, since God is the
“Determiner” of all time and things. I
want to know Him better and frankly speaking, be on His side. Why you might
ask? Because, “The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of
trouble” (Psalms 9:9). Psalms 46:1-2a calls Him a “Refuge and strength, an ever
present help in times of trouble. Therefore we will not fear.” As I
consider God’s control in my life I want to be like Solomon the writer of
Proverbs who said, “My times are in your hands” (Proverbs 31:15). God calls those
who believe in Him, “friends.” Moreover, “a
friend loves at all times” (Proverbs 17:17). So what do I do? “Trust in the Lord at all times” (Psalms
62:5). Why would I trust in the Lord this way?
Since the beginning and increasingly today, “the times are evil” (Amos
5:13). One writer said, “Time is cruel.”
The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “Now is the time of God’s favor,
now is the day of salvation.” Isaiah the Prophet said, “See, I am doing a new thing! Now
it spring up; do you perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:18-19). He said this 700
years before it would happen, the sending of God’s Son to earth.
Life and time are perilous at times. I have been in several
situations in my life requiring God’s interceding at just the right time. He
interceded through a classmate of my own father to carry me out of a tennis
tournament when I collapsed from a near fatal eating disorder of anorexia. I
could not control my out of control life in an alcoholic family, but God.
At the perfect time God healed me from what was a futile
illness while on the faculty of the University of Virginia (UVA). I have
written about this miraculous even in my book Great is God’s Faithfulness. After several weeks of high fever and
freezing joints I was unable to function. The UVA physicians didn’t know that a
tick bite had given me three life-threatening illnesses. It was in the middle
of the night while my fever soaked through the bedclothes and I could only
crawl that I cried out to God through my pain and tears saying, “Praise
the Lord O my soul…and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your sins,
who heals all your diseases” (Psalm 103:1-3). As the words reached God,
He sent His hot healing power to surge throughout my body bringing complete and
instant healing. I could jump out of bed praising God. It turned out that more
than 100 patients had died of my illnesses in the year of my trial.
Is God asking you for something that is difficult? I have
already written about God’s miraculous healing at UVA, but sometimes we are
asked to act even when our own life or position is at stake. I recall my time
as Chief Compliance/Ethics Officer for the University of Virginia (UVA). My
superior, the Executive Vice President of UVA said, “We are hiring you because
you are skilled and you are a Yankee so we won’t worry if we need to kill you.”
This was tongue and cheek yet somewhat true because the Civil War was sadly
still going on in the South. I needed to challenge practices that were illegal,
discriminatory and full of harassment at times. I recall calling on the
President of the Medical College for his treatment of females in ways that were
no longer acceptable in most of the country. Because we were both strong
Christians it went well and we became close friends through the many challenges
at UVA. Eventually, after I had led this major effort that changed a myriad of
practices I had outlived my usefulness to certain executives, therefore making
clear to me the time was right to head back to home in Wisconsin. I was healed physically from disease and now
I needed to remember, there is a time for everything under heaven.
The present time is all we have. We need to live life one
day at a time, being in and enjoying every moment. God is returning to rule and
reign as well as to judge the earth in the perfect time. Jesus said that, “At
the appointed time I will return” (Romans 9:9). The time is short (1
Corinthians 7:29) and the present world is passing away.
So, what do we do in this time? God called us to live a holy
life through His grace given us in Christ Jesus before the “beginning of time” (2 Timothy 1:9). Perhaps you don’t know this
One who was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be? A lesson comes from the
Book of Esther, portraying the obedient life of a Jewish woman under a
proclamation of certain death whose courage brought salvation for all her
people before a pagan king. “And who knows but that you have come to
royal position for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). She had the
courage to challenge her husband king regarding his proclamation to exterminate
all the Jewish people brought about through an evil plot. He relented, even as
her life and a multitude of others were on the line. What about you? Are you
being called for something unique and special requiring faith and boldness
beyond your capabilities?
I have pastored a church after a bloody implosion due to
pride and arrogance of a lead pastor that caused division. When I was at the
end of my rope from leading, counseling and caring I had suicidal ideations.
But God sent His Holy Spirit on Pentecost as I was leading worship as a hot
healing strength moving through me. He brought joy and clarity that has filled
me since in a miraculous way even tough I still do stupid things.
Speaking of dumb things, last summer I headed to nearby Lake
Michigan when in August it had finally warmed enough for swimming. The
hurricanes in the South had caused huge waves and rip currents of which I was
unaware. Almost immediately after I hit the surf, I was dragged out nearly a
quarter mile unable to battle back against the torrent. At the point of near total
exhaustion, when I feared of drowning, I cried out, “Help me Jesus!”
Immediately a peace that transcended all understanding came over me. I thought
this is what drowning feels like. I could no longer swim in the maelstrom when
suddenly at just the right time I was thrown onto the rocky beach now many
hundreds of yards away. God Himself had transported me, not by my own doing.
“But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son,
born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, to redeem
those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you
are sons, God sent the Spirit of His son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls
out, Abba, Father” (Galatians
4:4-6). Other translations say at “Just the right time, the perfect time,” God
sent Jesus Christ into His world to live and die and be resurrected for our
sins. Praise God that He is returning and as 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 declares,
He is coming back at just the right time to take us with Him into heaven and
out of the tribulation or at least the wrath He will pour out on the earth. In
the meantime while waiting for that time, we need to reflect, seek God in His
sanctuary, be silent, seek solitude and even simplicity in our lives as Chuck
Swindoll wrote in his book, Intimacy With
The Almighty. We only have so much
time on earth; Scripture says 70 or 80 years if strong. The Psalms teach us “to
number our days (time) aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm
90:10,11,12). This time of our end and
God’s return is coming soon and the last verses of the Bible in Revelation say,
“He who testifies to all these things says it again: “I’m on
my way! I’ll be there soon!”
Yes! Come, Master
(Lord) Jesus! (Revelation 22:20 The
Message).
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.