The turn of this new year? — I’ve stopped counting.
Stopped counting how long it’s been.
Stopped ruminating how different the world’s been — or how crazy the headlines have been.
Plane falls, economy implodes, new strain develops, election went south, and our borders? — they have closed once again.
It seems too easy to lose hope at the beginning of a new year.
And I had been that crazy idealist with the illusion of control, presumptuously declaring: “my life is mine”, mistakenly assuming that I’d always make the call to how my time should be spent.
But a virus and crisis have truly stopped me short in my tracks and I’m learning it now:
Time is never mine, and this life is never about me.
Time is a privilege we get to spend, not a right we get to keep.
When would I, personally ever learn that the fulfilled life isn’t about fulfilling all my dreams, my adult ego, my daily lists?
This really is the struggle of all my struggles – to let go of control. This is what often messes up my life, kidnaps me in all my desires. I want control. I want life to go on my term. I want more time so I can do more, perhaps be more?
But life, with all its interruptions and persisting disappointments, with or without covid — can still be beautiful — and I know that requires giving up my control to the One who can truly be in control.
And if I want to be freed from the tyranny of time, of self-striving productivity, then I must allow grace to come and descend on my daily life.
“Here’s the bottom line. The Christian life, the church, our faith are not about us, they’re about him – His plan, His kingdom, His glory.”
Paul Tripp
So perhaps, time is best lived through a different grit.
Hoard time and you’ll destruct life.
Waste time and you’ll fail life.
Invest time and we’ll reap a harvest.
This crisis can slow us down to rise yet another day with trust and thanks.
And if we now realise that time and life is gift — we can enjoy it with opened hands, with tuned up thanks, with deepest joy.
Because this is the way to slowly let go of control — remembering the truth about who owns our time and who truly is in control.
Thank you for reading – This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up!
