A Place Called Simplicity - Part 3 - Time

Time has become more precious than money to many people. How many times have you heard someone say, “I need more hours in a day”, “More days in a week” or “I can’t believe how fast summer has gone?” But there’s different kinds of time. When we are rushing around trying to be 10 places at once and get 50 things done, time flies – and not in a good way. Then there is time when we are in a dull class, or waiting for someone, when the hands on the clock seem to crawl and that’s not good either.

But then there are moments – an afternoon away in the mountains with someone really special in your life for instance - where time kind of suspends. We want to measure time in moments – not minutes.

The author believes that people with simple faith have more of those kinds of moments. They are not so busy doing, achieving and creating their own self-constructed destiny that they miss the hidden treasures that are waiting in the ordinary events of life. The things on God’s agenda.

She suggests this will be what time is like in heaven.

So what kind of time are we really hungering for? Not the boring minutes that drag or the rushing against deadline time. But the gentle, unhurried quality of life we experience when we have freed ourselves to go with God’s plan. Where do we find this? How do we create space in our busy lives for this?

We can’t manufacture these moments. But we can learn new ways to look at life that will encourage this simpler, more spontaneous, less clock-driven way of life. We can make some subtle shifts in attitude that will welcome more meaningful experiences and relationships into our over-planned, over-stressed lives.

1. Learn to live one day at a time.

Jesus gave us the greatest clue to entering God time when He invited us to live and trust one day at a time, instead of worrying about tomorrow or stewing over the past. The past will try to rob us of our peace of mind and the future tries to rob us of our faith. Faith allows us to let God hold tomorrow until we get to it. And choosing to release the past to God’s redemptive grace simplifies our lives because it gets rid of past regrets. We have today and we can make it count!

We can’t really “make” time, but we can make the most of the time we are given. God created time back in Genesis 1:14 when He separated day from night and marked the seasons. He decided how much time we need and we all have the same amount.

Ephesians 5:16 and Colossians 4:5 tell us to live wisely by “making the most of every opportunity.”

Will we be able to give a good accounting of how we used the time we were given? Will our time be spent getting to know each other and God? Finding joy in our tasks? Sharing our possessions, sharing the gospel, marveling over God’s beautiful creation and praising Him? Praying with friends? Laughing with our children? Or is it our checked off to-do list?

2. Don’t wait to be happy.

“Later on” usually stays “later on”! Be happy today!

3. Trust that there will be time enough. The author says that with God’s help to discern what things will be most meaningful to us and most important to Him, He will help us find enough time to do them.

But, she says we need to think regularly about theses goals and evaluate all activities, even the most trivial, by whether they add to that life. Then ruthlessly weed out what ever doesn’t. (Tasks, errands, TV shows, people, etc.) Computers and television are huge time wasters. Not that they are all bad, but it’s easy to get sucked in and hours can go by without you really getting anything from it.

You know, it’s a fine line, according to society if you sit around watching TV all day you’re kind of a loser and to the success driven people if you want to simplify and slow down you’re also a loser. (In their eyes.) It’s fashionable to be overly busy! If you’re not they think you’re boring.

But, I heard Chip Ingram say that CEO’s make the worst parents because they are so success driven.

Being so focused on success will cause a person to miss the God moments. We need to slow down and enjoy the journey of life.

Toward the end of His life Jesus “set His face toward the cross.” He was focused on that. But, even then He took time with friends, sharing meals, meeting new people. On His way to heal one person He would often stop to heal another. He was keeping His spiritual eyes open for God’s agenda. He saw interruptions as part of the big scheme of things. Travel with a purpose, but live as fully as possible all the way to your destination.

We all know it would be best for our health and happiness if we slowed down. But most people don’t feel comfortable with an unscheduled life. We have to learn to treat our time with God like we would with someone we love. Just enjoy “being in their presence.” Just be still with Him. This isn’t a waste of time, but actually an invaluable investment of time.

We need to learn to embrace the special, unplanned moments in life.

Part Two: Managing your time

So what constructive things can we do to make our lives less hectic and more fulfilled?

1. Let done be done – give a task your best and then let it be finished!

2. Boss your time – look at your calendar to see what it says about your priorities. Really decide what you want to be doing – don’t let anyone else tell you what you want to be doing. If you want to be a stay at home mom – don’t ever let anyone tell you should be in the work force because what you’re doing isn’t important.

If you want to switch from some “high powered” job or professional title and become a personal trainer or florist – don’t let society pressure you into thinking just because it doesn’t pay as well – it’s not as good.

My brother, a Lutheran minister, was the assistant bishop for his conference in Philadelphia. After a couple years of that it was “time” to become bishop and everyone expected him to. But, he turned it down because he went in to the ministry to preach and be with a congregation. Gordon has a notebook on every single family in his church. He visits every house surrounding the church for however many miles – on his bike – to invite those people to church. His church grew from about 50 to 500 people while he was there. For him – being a bishop with its politics, its meetings and the paper work – just wasn’t important – even though everyone else told him the title was.

A dedicated cardiac surgeon will place patient care ahead of a golf game.

An effective teacher will stay after school to help a student rather then go shopping.

A committed critical care nurse is more eager to take care of her patients then fill out insurance forms.

Some executives are voluntarily downshifting to spend more time with their families.

Decide your goals – making sure they fit with God’s goals – and then control your time for your goals.

Also, while you are bossing your time, allow flextime. Build a cushion even as much as 25% extra for those unexpected moments you don’t want to miss. Basically refocus your life on what really matters.

3. Learn to say no – BUT, say it for the right reasons. Many times we say yes to a position or job or committee only because we are flattered to be asked. Other times we don’t know how to turn someone down. We don’t think we have a great reason, we don’t want them to think badly of us, but no one can do everything that everyone wants them to do.

4. Measure life by quality – Stop judging your life by how many committees you’re on. How many commitments. It’s ok to walk on the beach, read a magazine in the hammock, sit with your spouse and watch the sun go down, spend an afternoon fishing, play a sport or listen to music. Women especially feel guilty taking time out to relax. I think that’s why we plan so many family outings – then we can do something fun, but it's still sort of like you’re doing it for your kids or husband. We should just enjoy life more. It’s not only OK, it’s good!

And finally – again – use Jesus as your model for using time. Ask yourself at the beginning of the day how many hours you are willing to place in God’s hands for Him to use as He chooses. If life happens in the interruptions like I’ve heard Gloria Gaither say – we can’t be too busy and tied to our schedules for God to interrupt us!