“What time is it?” How often have you asked, or been asked that question? It’s a lot isn’t it? And that’s because our lives are basically ruled by time.

Whether it’s getting to work, school, or an appointment, we’re constantly checking whatever devices we have to make sure we’re on time. In the evening, we might want to catch the news, or a favourite TV program – or we just might want to see if it’s time to go to bed so we can get up in the morning and repeat the whole routine.

Stepping back from the day-to-day and looking at the bigger picture, there’s an interesting phenomenon that seems to happen with age. For a child, time often seems to drag. How long until the school term finishes, how long until my birthday or Christmas? But as we get older, time seems to somehow speed up. The days and years fly by until one day we realise we’ve become old! We look back and think ‘when did that happen?’

“How a clock measures time and how you perceive it are quite different. As we grow older, it can often feel like time goes by faster and faster. This speeding up of subjective time with age is well documented by psychologists, but there is no consensus on the cause.” (Harvard University blog, 2019) 

One thing we know for sure. Each of us is allotted a specific period of time to live, we just don’t know how much. So it’s worth asking ourselves, how well are we using this precious resource?

The Bible tells us that God is not bound by time. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is an eternal God, the Creator of the whole earth. He does not get tired or weary; there is no limit to his wisdom.” (Isaiah 40:28, NET)

But the really exciting part is the next bit… “He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. But those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles’ wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.” (Isaiah 40:29-31, NET) 

“Those who wait for the Lord’s help find renewed strength” …how are you using your time?

Reference:

“No, It’s Not Just You: Why time “speeds up” as we get older” Harvard University 2019 https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/no-not-just-time-speeds-get-older/ (27 March 2019)