A simple piece of paper with the question “time will pass, will you?” sat directly next to the clock above the door. One of my middle school teachers had placed it there, knowing full well that our young eyes often veered in that direction. Long before everyone had phones, fancy watches, or other forms of technological distractions, the ordinary wall clock attracted the attention of students counting down the minutes until the end of class.
Every day, without fail, the time allotted for class did pass, the bell rang, and we hustled along to the next thing on our schedules. But, the question loomed…had we truly absorbed the opportunities given to learn and grow that day, or in the desire to see time pass, did we completely miss the lessons we were being taught? Lessons meant for our greater good. In this case, to help us pass the class.
I’m no longer a kid sitting in a classroom, but I still think this is a great question to consider. How many times do we miss what God wants to teach us in the present because we’re so focused on moving to the next thing on our schedule?
Yes, sometimes life can be less than exciting, and routine, and we’d rather be somewhere else, but that doesn’t make those moments void of opportunities for growth.
God greatly desires that we “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” and there is no time or circumstance he can’t use for our good to mature us and help us know him better (2 Peter 3:18a).
But, it takes focus on our part to keep our eyes on Him and our hearts willing to learn, in whatever moment we find ourselves. Like any good student, that involves paying attention, talking with him, listening to his voice, studying his Word, and asking questions when we don’t understand.
Time will pass. No doubt about it. Today we say, “the days are long, but the years are short,” but even Moses knew this to be true when he wrote in Psalm 90:10, “the years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty…they are soon gone, and we fly away.”
Considering the brevity of life, just two versus later, Moses prays, “so teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
Each day there is wisdom to be gained and opportunities to grow in faith. The choice is ours. Will we watch the clock, waiting for time to move us to where we think we want to be, or will we watch for God’s hand at work and open ourselves to what he wants to teach us right where we are?