Time – Friend Or Foe

Ever want to save time in a bottle?

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Do you ever think of time as an enemy? Being hampered by Attention Deficit Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, I’m constantly reminded that I’m a slow person in a fast moving world. It seems impossible to accomplish all that needs to be done. And with that mind-set, each day so easily becomes a frustrating battle against time.

What can we do to hold back its steady advance? Absolutely nothing. As rational mortals, we’re well aware that our bodies tend to deteriorate further as we get older, limiting our ability even to do what we once did. And one day our life on earth will come to an end. As Solomon so starkly observes, “[There is] a time to be born and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2).

Life is what it is, and time is what it is. In truth, each of us has only the certainty of this moment anyway. That being so, how can we turn it into a positive, a friend? How can we best invest what we are given in things of eternal value? We can pray as Moses did, “Teach us to number our days aright [i.e. to ponder our mortality], that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Our caring God wants very much to give us that.

A while ago, we were bantering in a chat room about our different time zones. One person was already in what the rest of us called “tomorrow.” For her, our today was yesterday! Then, she said, “Forget the past; open the present.” What a profound statement! We have the choice to begin each moment as a gift to be unwrapped, and used to enjoy and serve the Lord. Even in pain and weakness.

Abbie Teh wrote a prayer that has encouraged me again and again: “Help me to remember, Lord that there is time enough to do Your will each day. Not everything I think I should do, or that others desire for me, but Your will in Your time.”

About the Author:
Beth Cottrill lives in a small town in rural Saskatchewan, Canada, with her retired pastor/teacher husband, Bob, an avid football fan. She finds living with Attention Deficit Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, depression, osteo-arthritis and a stroke of several years ago a challenge, but also training for a ministry to others. She loves nature, animals, music, making cards and, last but not least, being a grandma.