I haven't worn a watch regularly for years, but God gave me a new watch this morning-- in the metaphorical sense. As I was praying, he showed me a wristwatch. The face was plain, like an old Timex. Just a basic watch, with minute hand and hour hand. But what was really fascinating was the band. One side was a basic black Velcro strap, about three inches long. But the other side was also Velcro, twelve to eighteen inches long. I realized when I saw it that the only way to wear it was to wrap it around and around the wrist. This would make it VERY secure, but would cover up the face so that the time could not be seen. But what did this mean, exactly? Several things...
For one thing, God was telling me that I was a clock watcher. I am always pestering him, asking my favorite question--
"When? God, when will you do XYZ? When will THIS happen? When will THAT happen? How much longer, God?"
It's human nature. Jesus' followers asked him that question too. Repeatedly. Acts 1:6-7 records the disciples asking the resurrected Christ if he was about to become the physical king of Israel, and throw off Roman occupation.
When they were together for the last time they asked, "Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?"
He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business."
-Acts 1:6-7, The Message
This was by no means the first time Jesus had corrected his disciples on the subject. In Mark 13, the disciples are pointing out the majesty of the Temple complex, and Jesus responds by telling them that destruction is coming-- so thorough that there will not be one stone left upon the other. So of course, their next question is "When, Jesus? When will this happen?" In response, he tells them,
"But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven's angels, not even the Son. Only the Father. So keep a sharp lookout, for you don't know the timetable..."
-Mark 13:32-33, The Message
God was telling me to stop being a clock-watcher, and to trust his timing.
Another thing the watch represented for me is that I am bound by time. I am constrained by it, just like the wrapping the band of the watch around and around my wrist would constrain me. I would never be able to break the multiple layers of Velcro myself; they could only be unwound. But unlike me, God is NOT bound by Time. He owns it. Controls it. He can speed it up or slow it down at his choosing.
In Matthew 21, Jesus encounters a fig tree, and curses it because it had no figs for him to eat. Immediately, the fig tree withered.
When the disciples saw this, [when they saw time sped up] they were amazed. "How did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but you can also say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."
-Matthew 21:19-22, The New International Version
In 2 Kings 20, God sends the prophet Isaiah to King Hezekiah to tell him that he will live, and not die of his current sickness. Hezekiah asks for a sign that this is really, actually true. Does God really mean it?
Isaiah answered, "This is the LORD's sign to you that the LORD will do what he promised: shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps? "It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps," said Hezekiah, "Rather have it go back ten steps." Then the prophet Isaiah called upon the LORD, and the LORD made the shadow go back ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
-2 Kings 20:9-11, The New International Version
In this case, not only did God slow time. He reversed it, making the shadow move in the wrong direction as a sign to King Hezekiah.
There are sometimes situations in our lives where we feel that it is too late for us. There is not enough time for God to accomplish his purposes. We are too old. There has been too much water under the bridge. Too much has been said perhaps, to EVER make peace. But God is not constrained by time. He can speed it up like he did with the fig tree, and accomplish something in little to no time at all. Or He can reverse the process of time.
In Jeremiah 32, the Babylonians are attacking. Fields and crops are destroyed by the invaders, the secondary cities have already fallen and Jerusalem itself is about to be overrun. It is truly the end of their world. But God gives them a message of hope:
"Yes, this is GOD's Message: 'I will certainly bring this huge catastrophe on this people, but I will also usher in a wonderful life of prosperity. I promise. Fields are going to be bought here again, yes, in this very country that you assume is going to end up desolate- gone to the dogs, unlivable, wrecked by the Babylonians. Yes, people will buy farms again, and legally, with deeds of purchase, sealed documents, proper witnesses-- and right here in the territory of Benjamin and the area around Jerusalem... I will restore everything that was lost.' GOD's Decree."
-Jeremiah 32:42-44, The Message
So where are you? Lost? Alone? Feel that it's too late for you-- that time is not on your side? Ask God to move anyway.
God is not bound by Time.
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