With all the pristine hours, weeks and months of a new year before us, let’s think about time itself. Einstein showed that time is fluid. When you’re traveling near the speed of light, unbelievably, time actually slows down. The Bible also shows that time has different dimensions that impact us daily.
In the Book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 3, King Solomon reflects on the “times and seasons” of life. Some seasons we wish we could hang on to forever…others we hope never happen to us! Yet the good times are balanced by the bad times. Time has an ebb and a flow that’s beyond human control. But we can’t stop here. Yes, life has an ebb and flow beyond human control, but what does this mean for how we live our day-to-day lives?
The good news is there is a God in this universe who is never caught by surprise, and who “makes everything beautiful in its time.”
There are two words for time in the Greek language in which the New Testament was written. One is Chronos which means the passage of time. A fancy word for a time-keeping piece is a “chronometer”—it measures the passages of time.
But the more important word is Kairos—which means time at just the right moment. When my wife and I went to Ethiopia in 2010 as missionaries, it was a Kairos moment—many different events in our lives all opened up a door so we could make this major life change. If it had been earlier, or later, it would not have happened.
Perhaps like you, I can look back on many events in my life which seemed to be setbacks in the moment, only to be revealed to be perfect timing later on. When he says “He has made everything beautiful in its time,” Solomon is saying God’s time is ALWAYS Kairos time. Never too soon—never too late. God opens and closes doors in our lives at just the right time—even though it may not always seem that way to us.
But Solomon also has some bad news. The bad news is we are all creatures of time…yet we were made for eternity. We are mortal and trapped in time. We know there is more to life than just the stream of Chronos. We were made to ask the bigger questions of life… to understand and find the meaning, to solve the mysteries, to have some “aha” Kairos moments. But we’re trapped. Often we have to go through life without knowing why things happen as they do. We believe God has a purpose, but sometimes we have no idea what that purpose is.
As we begin this new year stretching ahead of each of us, we can recognize that time itself is paradoxical.
The good news is that time isn’t just a random jumble of events from birth to death. There are Kairos moments within the flow of Chronos that brings meaning and purpose to your life. God is in control. God’s timing is always perfect.
The bad news is that things still happen which are disturbing or confusing or feel out of control. We want understand what it all means and figure it out. But we can’t. What should be our reaction when we realize both this good and bad news?
Solomon advises: embrace the time you have as a gift. See every day as a gift from God. Gratefully receive everything that God has given you, enjoy it, and then offer it back to God in grateful service.
