Taking Stock of Time
So many things eat up our time - if you've got children, or had children, you'll know they take up a lot of time! Time spent with them is precious, of course, but in the hustle and bustle of running a house, spending time with children and your partner, and also working, there's often not a lot of time left for other things. Hobbies often take a back seat when you have a young family; and "me-time" goes out of the window. I have to be very strict to take a little time out each day to have some quiet "me-time", even if it's just 15 mins to write this blog!
All I hear myself saying is "I haven't got time", or "where's the time gone?" But I'm not alone....the exact same sentiments are echoed by almost everyone I know.
What is this issue we have with time?
When it comes to spending time with God in amongst all our busy lives, then things get tricky. We have to take control over our time to ensure it doesn't slip away from us, as it seems to so easily do.
I worked out that if I gave 10% of my time to God each week (taking 8 hours sleep out of the equation....not that I always get 8 hrs but that's by the by...), then I've got 112hrs a week. 10% of that = 11.2hrs. That's around 1.6hrs a day.
Now, I know I easily cover that some days, but others, well....I'm not sure! Time gets away from me, and before I know it my whole day has disappeared.
I've worked out that I spend approx 25% of my waking week with my husband. Some of that is with the children as a family, some just with him, but actually I'd love to spend more time with him. Do I feel that way about God?
Well the answer for me is an unequivocal yes. But I have to catch myself, because I sometimes make the excuse that I just don't have the time. But I have the same 168 hours (or 112 waking hours) as everyone else. I just need to manage those hours better.
One of our leaders recently preached a message where she brought home this reality about time: if we don't use it, we lose it. We can't bank time and roll it over to the next day. Once those 24 hours in the day have passed, they're gone and we have the opportunity to use them wisely or foolishly. Time is a very precious commodity and we can either waste it, or use it for something worthwhile. Spending time with God is a fantastic use of time.
Putting in time every day with God should be part of our everyday routine. He is our Daily Bread after all. I wouldn't spend just 2 hrs a week with my husband and expect to have a good relationship with him; similarly we can't class 2 hours at church a week as a good relationship with God. And when I think about it, 1.6hrs a day isn't actually very much. I'd be sad if I only spent 1.6hrs a day with my hubby. To maintain a living relationship, I can spend time with God throughout the day in moments of prayer, thanksgiving and praise. I can go to the Word in the morning and the evening, and I can meditate on His word throughout the day. If I'm intentional, I can actually spend way more than 1.6hrs a day with God. That has been my goal over the last few months: being mindful of what I'm wasting time on, and setting it to better use. Using cleaning time as additional prayer time, reading Christian books instead of social media, worshipping instead of complaining. Because God indwells us through His Holy Spirit, we can have unbroken communion with Him. I find that phenomenal, and so humbling.
The great thing is, we can have as much as God as we want; He doesn't force us to spend time with Him, He just asks us to. He doesn't ask us to spend 10% of our time with Him either...I just personally think it's a good minimum target.
I would urge you to contemplate and honestly review how you use your time each day. It's crazy how much time I can waste daily on meaningless and useless things when I review how I spent my day.
Be more intentional with your time, just as Paul advises in Ephesians 5 v 16 :
Make the most of the time, buying up each opportunity
There's no better use of time than spending it with Him.
