So after the great sex post of '08 I figured I'd go a little lighter on those of you who are regulars. I'm writing this at Starbucks again and I feel like this is going to become a common practice for me. I really need to look at getting myself one of those cool little netbooks so I don't have to struggle with my handwriting, and so I can get these published faster. (this was actually written in my journal on Sept 21st!)
Topic for today is timing and more importantly the difference between our timing and God's timing. Yes there is a difference and like many of you have discovered, His timing is never in line with our timing. God really is the king of the "hurry up and wait" mentality. I love that!
Back in high school / college I stopped wearing a watch. Before this moment I always had one on. I even will admit to having one of those way cool calculator watches all the kids clamoured for back in the day. OK so I was the only one who clamoured for it. I figured it would be useful in school and let me tell you what. It was SO useful. With that watch on I was guaranteed to be noticed by the bullies and ignored by the cute girls. Nice huh...
But I digress.
So why did I stop wearing a watch? Well I'd like to say it's because of some philosophical reason but I was just tired of the jokes. I did have to come up with some reason though so as not to let the bullies know they had gotten the best of me. So being a young smart ass I would tell people.
"Time is a constraint man has put on himself."
I don't know if I made that up or if I read it somewhere so until someone smarter comes along I'll call it my quote. Feel free to use and attribute it to me often. Just make sure you use a cool announcer voice or just sound really smart when you say it, especially if you're going to use my name.
So my quote really isn't true. Man didn't put time on us as a constraint. All we did was assign tangible values to the points between when the sun rises and sets along with the moon rising and setting. If you believe the Bible then you know that with Adam and Eve, before they ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge, they led an eternal life. Yep they were going to live forever. Once they ate the fruit though as punishment for disobeying him, God basically created death. Not just for Adam and Eve though but all of the things he created. Plants, animals, fish, birds, planets, solar systems etc.
So at this point our lives had a start and a finish. Going way back our life spans were hundreds of years but again we humans did something stupid and God said "OK you've got too much time on your hands. I'm going to shorten how long you can live!"
I don't know about you but I think this idea of too much time is something I wish I had at times. I wonder if we can get him to review this decision and maybe grant us an appeal? No? Oh well.
So we go from hundreds of years to grow old and die, down to around a hundred years, give or take 50. Think about this, most of us go through a mid-life crisis between 40 and 50. Some are earlier while others are later. Someone like Abraham had his mid-life crisis around the age of 200. And he couldn't buy a Porsche or Harley!
I think while God made our bodies last a shorter amount of time. he forgot to do the same thing to our brains and our way of thinking. Think about it, way back in the days of old, time was morning and night. You worked and did stuff when the sun was out, and slept, chilled out when the sun was down. Now we have seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years. We've got 5 year plans, 10 year plans, 30 year mortgages, 4 -5 years of college.
When we are young we like to think we have all the time in the world. We can't wait to turn 16 to drive, 18 to vote, 21 to drink and 25 for guys to get that lower car insurance payment. After that 25 point though something begins to change for most of us. We look back and either think we didn't live enough or we look forward and start seeing the 30's, 40's and 50's charging at us like the running of the bulls in Spain.
Then it happens we panic. We make comments like:
"I'm 30 and not making the money I should be"
"I'm 26 and single. I should be married with kids by now"
"If I don't get promoted soon I'm to be stuck her forever"
"I'm too old to be renting. I should own my own house by now"
"Being 35 and living at home with mom and dad is not longer cool"
OK so I tossed that last one in as a joke but you get the point.
Know what happens next? After we panic we decide to "do something" about it. We start looking for new jobs, or staying late to brown nose a bit. We begin to get serious and look for that perfect someone to settle down with. We start to drive through neighborhoods and attend open houses on the weekends.
We decide to take control and start doing things at our time and our pace.
God is really not a fan of us trying to do things in our own time. There are many many instances in the bible where patience is taught. Waiting and waiting on him is a very consistent theme through the bible. My favorite story though is the one of Jacob and Rachel.
The story basically goes that Jacob was out travelling the country and he comes to a well. he's chillin at this well, much like guys chill around the water cooler at work, when he see Rachel come to water her sheep. he immediately falls for her, makes a move on her and then sets out to marry her.
Genesis 29:18 - 20 reads:
18 Jacob loved Rachel. And he said, I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel. 19 Laban said, It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to any other man; stay with me. 20 So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.
SEVEN YEARS!! Guys can you imagine waiting seven years for that perfect woman? I mean those of you in a relationship now look at your significant other and tell her "honey let's wait 7 years before we date, kiss, marry etc." Trust me this will be the funniest thing to ever come out of your mouth. You might have to get her a brown bag or something to help her bring her laughter under control.
Seriously though Jacob was so into Rachel that he's not only going to WAIT seven years to be with her, but he's also going to WORK for her father the entire time. Have you met your significant others father? Would you work for him for seven years? Very few of us would work with our own fathers for seven years. I worked near mine (same building etc) for 3 years and if he wasn't such a professional (IE gave me space to succeed or screw up) it wouldn't have been fun by any means!
But wait look at like Verse 20. "they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her". Awwww see love does conquer all. If Jacob wasn't really into Rachel 7 years would never have happened. he would have said 7 months or 7 weeks and maybe not even completed that time span. But he truly loved her, probably because God had put it inside of him to. How do I know this? Check out Genesis 29:23-30
23 But in the evening he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and he went in to her. 24 (Laban gave his female servant Zilpah to his daughter Leah to be her servant.) 25 And in the morning, behold, it was Leah! And Jacob said to Laban, What is this you have done to me? Did I not serve with you for Rachel? Why then have you deceived me? 26 Laban said, It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn. 27 Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also in return for serving me another seven years. 28 Jacob did so, and completed her week. Then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. 29 (Laban gave his female servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel to be her servant.) 30 So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and he loved Rachel more than Leah, and served Laban for another seven years.
So he married Leah and then in order to get the girl he REALLY wanted he had to, 1 wait a week, and then once he got her he had to work another 7 years for her father. Here's the cool part . . . . . . . . he agrees to it.
You see Jacob understands the difference between God's timing and his own timing. If we are being real here, and we typically are, Jacob would have never seen 7 years times 2 as a good idea. But being a man of God he was willing to wait. To do what was necessary in order to do God's will. Even after they were married he never once questioned God's intentions or actions. Keep reading Genesis 30 and pay attention to his words in verse 2.
So what can we learn from Jacob? God's timing is never quick. It's never short and it is never what we expect it to be. Even after serving 7 years Jacob figured he was done, but nope here comes another 7. We will experience things just like this in our own lives. Just when we think we've done what we were supposed to do, God will give us a sign, or allow us to feel that it's not quiet time yet.
So take some time to breath. Take some time to just sit on your deck and watch the birds fly by. Don't be in such a hurry to do A, B or C. Let God run the timetable of your life, and you just enjoy what happens.
Trust me you will not be disappointed.
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