The approach of a new year is always an occasion to think about time. The calendar year comes to a close – and what a year it’s been. We never could’ve imagined things being the way they are.
Quite often when we get frustrated it has to do with time. The loved one died too soon. People didn’t meet the deadline. The bills came due and the money wasn’t there on the due date. Then an eviction date came. There are also the times when we expect changes to come but time moves on and they don’t happen. So we get frustrated. The Bible encourages us to rethink our frustrations with time. There’s a part of the New Testament looks at failed expectations and hones in on a thought derived from Psalm 90:4. It’s interesting to read that whole psalm to get a broader understanding. It draws from the experience of ongoing national frustration. Why has God allowed this to go on for so long? The writer responds by thinking of God’s sense of time. The days, weeks, months, and years of conquest, famine, pandemic, and poverty can seem like a lifetime. But it’s hardly a blip on the radar screen when you think about it in the larger span of things. So Psalm 90:1-6 gives these words… 1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn us back to dust, and say, “Turn back, you mortals.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning; 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. II Peter 3:8 paraphrases verse 4 of this psalm when he addresses the question of why Judgement Day hadn’t arrived yet. He says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” In other words, God stands over the expanse of time. For Him January 10th of 2021 or 2022 is no more mysterious than it was in 2019 or 1919 or even 1019. God is not trapped in time; He is beyond time. Furthermore, God has his reasons for doing things when He does them that we don’t always know about. We don’t always understand why things happen when they do – but we can understand the truth of God’s character. His apparent absence isn’t a sign of indifference or carelessness. Rather, He is patient; not wanting anyone to perish, but wanting all of us to come to repentance (3:9). What seems like a delay is actually God working on our behalf. Thus we can count His patience for our salvation (3:15). This is important for Christians in our outlook on life. You can have two people who are going through the exact same things, but one person will get impatient, while the other person will trust God and be at peace (3:14). It might also help to explore this question: “Maybe this is happening for my own good?” We can do this when the situation is frustrating for us. It doesn’t apply to every circumstance but it does apply to quite a few of them – including those where we’re impatient and things aren’t coming together as quickly as we’d hoped. God always knows what He’s doing, and either way we know – through Jesus Christ – that He has the last word in the end. God bless you. Andrew McHenry, Pastor First Congregational Church
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Andrew McHenryI am a husband, a Congregational pastor, and a native Kansan currently living in Thermalito, California. In the past I have also been a prison chaplain and a youth pastor. Interests include reading, railroads, prog rock, KU, and the KC Royals. Archives
March 2024
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