ILLUSIVENESS OF TIME

ILLUSIVENESS OF TIME
Sunday, August 8, 2021 by Leona Choy

Time concerns me. Especially in the final summit season of my life. I'm conscious of my mortality, of the perilous prophetic end-times we are living in, of the end of earth-time itself, and of my earth-time in particular.

Man differs from animals in that God created mankind with an awareness of the passing of time and knowledge of the limitation of the human life span. Realizing life's brevity, How shall I best spend or invest the time I have left?

“What is time?” Is it simply a dimension and measure in which events can be ordered from the past through the present into the future? A way to understand sequence, duration of events, and the intervals between them? Someone observed, "Time is what keeps everything from happening at once."

With our finite minds, we don't really understand what time is nor do we know what time it is according to God's sovereign time schedule. We can't even use our five senses or apply the scientific method to experience time, yet we are subject to it. Time is as invisible as the wind. We can only see the consequences of time in our faces reflected in the mirror or in the faces of our family and friends, in changes in the material world around us.

Although we can't accurately define time, apparently we can waste time, invest time, pass the time away, kill time, find time, be on time, lose time, save time, and measure time. I can be short of time and out of time; there can be a convenient time, an appointed time, an acceptable time, and leisure time. People do time in prison. Some of us are in prime time. There is a departure time for planes, trains—and people. There is a last time and a time of judgment. Isn't it incredible that God, who is outside of time, acts in the fullness of time? And that He expects us to redeem the time?

According to the Genesis record, our eternal no-time God established time at the creation of Planet Earth to measure the days. “Evening and morning were the first days....” Since that time, we who live on this whirling ball are subject to space and time. Sometimes we get impatient and think God is too slow to answer our prayers. With King David in the Psalms, we cry, “It is time for You, O Lord, to work...” At times we would like to accelerate time; at other times, to slow it down.

God deals with us in our time frame in an orderly way. “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every purpose under heaven. There is a time to give birth, a time to die, to plant, to uproot, kill, heal....” Twenty-eight time-events are listed by the writer of Ecclesiastes that encompass most of life.

In His incarnate human body, although Jesus was the eternal Son of God, He was aware at certain times that His “time had not yet fully come,” and later that “My time is at hand.” The devil was able to accelerate time during his temptation of Jesus by showing him “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.”

Since time began, temporal measurements have occupied scientists and philosophers, those who study astronomy, and those who navigate. In an effort to understand time, man observed the movement of the sun across the sky, the phases of the moon, the movement of the stars, the swing of a pendulum, and the beat of a heart.

From prehistoric times, man has tried to mark divisions in our days in many ways: by using oil lamps, marked candles, sundials, water clocks, sand hourglasses, and eventually ingenious astronomical clocks. It's hard to believe that mechanical clocks were not invented until as recently as 1275.

On visits to my heritage homeland, the Czech Republic, it was an awesome experience to see the famous Astronomical Clock in the city square in Prague (pictured above). Not until 1884 was an agreement reached on global time measurement and Greenwich Mean Time adopted as the international standard. Today we rely on atomic clocks for our most accurate measurements of time. Few of us know that the international unit of time, the second, is defined in terms of radiation emitted by cesium atoms.

In the not too distant past, you had to go to the public square to find out what time it was! Eventually, when clocks were designed smaller, they came into domestic use. Then for personal use as pocket watches, then wristwatches—now we tell time on our cell phones! Who knows what kind of time-measurement devices lie in the near future?

Now that we are able to measure time accurately, what have we achieved? We can't control time. We are at its mercy—we can't stop the clock, slow it, or reverse it. It took time for us to be formed in our mother's womb; we were born in due time, and we age in the sequence of time. Although we live in time right now, eternity without time is ahead. There must have been a non-time, a time before it was; the Scriptures tell us that there will be a time when time shall be no more.

My mortal body is subject to the corruption of earthly time. My soul (spirit) is not subject to time; it is eternal. God provided each of us with an ordained length of time on earth to cultivate for eternity.

MY TIME

God gave me a measure

of time for my treasure,

a slight yet generous slice

from an endless eternity.

If I embrace time selfishly

I lose it eventually.

If I surrender it entirely

to The Great Timekeeper

I find time for all

that in His perfect will

God planned for me.

My times, O Lord,

are in Your hands.

Each breath I take,

each beat of my heart

like the tick of a clock

is a portion of eternity

minutes loaned by God to me

that I might redeem the time.

Fantastic thought!

God has chosen me

for this moment in history,

actually destined me

to leave a mark for Him

upon some hearts on this earth

as I pass through this span of time

that is called my generation!

****

“As for me, I trust in Thee, O Lord,

I say, 'Thou art my God.

My times are in Thy hand.'"

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Comments

Jan Nichols From Buford. GA At 8/9/2021 8:19:09 PM

I had to read this to my husband and can’t wait to show it to my loved ones. Your timing is perfect. I believe God used you as his messenger to open our hearts and eyes to focus on how each of us choose to use His gift of time from this moment on…

Reply by: Leona Choy

Yes,walk closely with the Lord and work for the night is coming when earth time runs out. Do you have my new book about our RESURRECTED LIFE after JESUS RETURNS, "Cell phones in Heaven??" Please give me your mailing address again so I can send you a love copy.

Linda Ann Fumea From Florida At 8/9/2021 6:18:18 PM

Reading this is such a great reminder to never waste time. Always about our Father's business. Thank you.

Reply by: Leona Choy

The night of darkness is fast approaching as evil accelerates...but so is the BRIGHT BURST OF HEAVEN AT THE RETURN OF OUR LORD WITH THE SOUND OF THE TRUMPET--and OUR RESURRECTION BODIES reunited with our souls described in my newest book "Cell phones in Heaven?" May I send you a love copy from my heart?

Betty Vonn Snapp From Stephens City At 8/9/2021 1:11:25 PM

Oh, yes, Leona! At my age of 88, you have informed, enhanced, and focused my thoughts on “time” today! You are such a blessing - to God and to us!

Reply by: Leona Choy

I see you on FB following Liz on Mondays--such a blessing. I don't see in my records that you have my new book "Cell Phones in Heaven?" May I send you a love copy? I need your mailing address please.

Louise Greisen From Seattle At 8/9/2021 10:29:26 AM

My time on this earth gets shorter every minute. My hope of heaven makes the future a reality. I loved your post.

Reply by: Leona Choy

Louise dear, please give me your mailing address. My recent two books re: China and heaven are so relevant to us both--my gift to you for the memories of ministry we shared together in bygone days.

Dot From Dan At 8/9/2021 8:49:50 AM

Oh, Leona, you did it again! Time and again!

Reply by: Leona Choy

Check out your back after the fall even if you feel better. Falling backward is more common in mature years says my doctor.That's why we compensate by bending forward--and resulting in our stoop. Watch that balance,sweet Dot.

Mary Ellen From Birmingham At 8/8/2021 2:43:13 PM

Loved this! Such great insights! Both of our children were born (4 years apart), On this day...will send these comments to bless this special time marking 34 and 38 years! We are moving over to be with Matt and Danya while we prepare this house to sell. Your books went on the shelf there today??