Using Time To The Glory of God

“Actions that lead to overwork, exhaustion, and burnout can’t praise and glory God. What God calls us to do we can do and do well.”

— HENRI NOUWEN (1932–1996)

WELL MAY we say, we do not have enough time – and I frequently think it. But the truth of the matter is we have ample time – to do all we need to do.

We always find time to do the things that are important to us, but we need to ensure that there aren’t that many things that are important to us that we will feel overwhelmed in the process of simply living. Sure, some people are called to lives of burden, as most of us have seasons of burden where we are tested regarding the limits placed on our time.

But we need to remember, especially in this age of busyness, God has ordained enough moments, enough minutes, and enough milieus to make a full life – not full of burden, but full of purpose, hope, and sufficiency through grace to achieve his will.

God gifts us with such things as these, when we use our time wisely:

“God’s gift is enjoyment in your life, fulfillment in your work, contentment in your heart.”

— CHUCK SWINDOLL

When we determine that enjoyment in life, fulfilment in our work, and contentment in our hearts is possible then we are able to connect with it the fact that we have enough time.

Reconfiguring Our Perspective To Truth

When we consider the possibilities – that we do have enough time to do the things we need to – and that there is the potential for enjoyment, fulfilment, and contentment – we soon learn that seeing truthfully is about maintaining healthy perspective.

An unhealthy perspective with regard to time and satisfaction in life makes life a misery – so we might ask, why go there?

There is no gain to us or to anyone else in an unhealthy perspective, but there is plenty of gain for us and everyone we care about when we acknowledge, within healthy limitations, we have enough time and opportunity to do everything that God asks us to do.

Having ventured forth in life long enough to have experienced some of the blessings of God because we have accepted these realities, we have enough knowledge to continue stepping forth on the road of faith – a road that never ultimately disappoints.

Add to ‘Truth-of-Time’, Diligence

Diligence is a masterstroke of wisdom that we add to the concept that is the truth-of-time. The truth-of-time-and-diligence combo works – by our processes of faith – for the simple reason that we whinge and complain no more about those burdens bearing down on us. We simply, by diligence, put our head down and apply our minds to the work ahead of us. All our hearts go into the work, and God, by his Spirit, anoints us by his Presence, as we enjoy his blessing: the matters of plain and unquestioned achievement.

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Time might appear the conqueror, but, when we accept we have enough time to do God’s will, we are the conquerors. All we need is to invest in diligence and God converts that type of obedience into eventual blessing.

© 2013 S. J. Wickham.