Time Is Ticking

Today is the last day of September. It seems like it was just a few days ago that God spoke to me and said we would be moving here to Mobile, Alabama, but it was actually 9 months ago. It really feels like it has been a week or two since we had our big moving sale and sold most of our furniture and things. In reality that moving sale was almost three months ago. It feels like we have only been here in Alabama a few days but the truth is it’s been nearly two months. Time has a way of getting away from us. 

The days are hot here in Mobile. We have been having temperatures in the 90’s but feels much hotter. The evenings are not much cooler. The calendar says it is fall but the thermometer says summer! It’s easy to get mixed up on what day it is since Paul and I have not been working yet. Time marches on.

I wanted to capture so many memories of Kadesia’s senior year, and I had in my mind all the things we would do and experience together. She has had so many wonderful experiences already and honestly her senior year here is so much richer than she could have experienced in Indiana. The opportunities she has here cannot compare. We are so blessed and in the midst of us in full swing of all the preparation, the deadlines, and the long list of things to wrap up, time slips by. My kids have been in school almost all of August and all of September now. 

Tick, tock!
Tick, tock!
Tick, tock!

Each day we are given 24 hours. Each moment of that day is measured equally. What we choose to spend our time on needs to matter, because time does not get replaced! How are we spending each second of the time we are blessed with? One day the clock will stop for us and eternity will begin.

In Psalm 90, Moses is pondering about the time we are given. In verse four, Moses tells God:  FOR A THOUSAND YEARS IN THY SIGHT ARE BUT AS YESTERDAY WHEN IT IS PAST, AND AS A WATCH IN THE NIGHT. He says in verse 10 that our lives are about 70-80 years and that most of that time is spent working and in sorrow and then we are done and we fly away! What is the point if we are born, live a life of hard work and trouble and then die? Moses knew there had to be more to life than that. So he asks God to help us.

Psalm 90:12
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.

God please teach us, Your children, to be mindful that our time on earth is short! Teach us to make the best use of the time we are given.

My dad gave steel guitar lessons to a really nice man who lived pretty close to us. The man was married and he had two beautiful daughters. Through his lessons our families became acquainted and through the years we remained in touch. We would cross paths at churches here and there and one of his daughters worked at Walmart (still does) and my mom retired from there not long ago. The family is just a wonderful family, all of them.

One day the man’s granddaughter got married and they had a baby boy. Such an exciting time in their life until tragedy struck. Just in her early 20’s, still newly married and a new mom to a baby only a couple of months old, that beautiful woman slipped into eternity. The God she loved, praised, worshipped, sang to, prayed to, and gave thanks to welcomed her into the portals of glory. Her whole life was ahead of her! Just starting out in life and gone! Please do not fool yourself, you are not promised tomorrow.

How much time do you have left? Not much. Neither do I! Let’s number our days so we can choose to live wisely.

Moses finishes this psalm so beautifully:

Psalm 90:14-17
14 O satisfy us early with Thy mercy; that we might rejoice and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
16 Let Thy work appear unto Thy servants, and Thy glory unto their children.
17 And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish Thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish Thou it.

Lamentations 3:22-23
22 It is of the LORD ‘S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.
23 They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness.

Every single morning we are given brand new mercy from God! David said in Psalms 68:19 that God loads us with benefits every day! Ephesians 5:16 teaches us to redeem the time, not to just meander through life. Why are we put on the earth? What important task have we been trusted with? We are urged over and over throughout the scriptures from different people to take an inventory of our lives. What have we done that has eternal value? What treasures are we storing up? Have we made room for Christ to dwell in our hearts and guide us through life, or is He on standby for times we get into trouble?

Hebrews 9:27 says we are all going to die. Sure He could come back and gather His people with Him in the clouds, but while He tarries, we are all appointed to die. The graves are full of the remains of men and women of all ages, all religions, all cultures, and both wealthy and poor all stepped into eternity whether they were ready or not.

In 2 Corinthians chapter five it says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Psalms 116:15 says the death of God’s people is precious in His eyes. He is thrilled when we make it through life with our hand in His. 

Please take some time today to reflect on your life: where you have been, what God brought you through, and where you are going. What choices are you making on your own, and what choices are you leaving up to God? Life is so much better with God in control.

In closing, I will share the last two verses in the Bible. I pray you have received strength for your journey and light for your way! God bless you!

Revelation 22:20-21
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

~Bridgett Owens