My Time, His Time

As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.

                                                                       Psalm 103:15-16  (ESV)

I’ve written about time before, in my book In A Mirror Dimly, and in this blog. Time is a fascinating concept, is it not? King David, the psalmist recognized the passing nature of man when he wrote Psalm 103. What is time? Why? Who knows where time goes?

I hope you’ll allow me to offer some ideas. I truly think that time is a dimension that God created for man; because we needed a line along which to measure our lives and events. The point the psalmist makes is that man’s life is like a flower of the field, that flourishes, but then it’s gone. God is forever. He is not limited or hemmed in by time. I have wondered many times how He can be truly omnipotent and omniscient? How can He have known of me from before He formed the world? How could He bring me to this stage of my life? And then I realize that I am bound by the rules of time. He’s not.

In fact, C.S. Lewis wrote in The Great Divorce, “There is no other day. All days are present now. This moment contains all moments.” Let’s ponder that for a moment. It is a concept completely beyond human understanding. But we have been told in Psalm 139 that each of our days was preordained by God before the world existed. If there were no linear measure of time, we might begin to perceive His truth.

There was a time in my life when I was certain that I understood it all. That I could, by the power of my will, change and solve and work out problems; as David wrote, my flower was flourishing. But then the wind passed over and it was all gone. I found Him and came to Him giving Him all my strife. Again, I thought I had things under control. Along came Sally’s illness; and the flower was all gone again. But during the depths of our despair in her illness, He spoke to me. He whispered directly to me, “She’s in My hands.” I gave it all to Him. I lost her, but I knew that she was with Him.

Now He’s at work again in my time. I knew that if I were ever to marry again, I would have to find a woman as Godly and as focused on His kingdom as Sally was. Could there be another?

Into my life He brought this woman. Debby McMillin Fleming and I were clearly led to each other by the Lord. And now we’ve committed our marriage to serving His kingdom. In His time. This moment does, indeed contain all moments. Praise God.