The Time of Day

Mark 13:32-33
"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be on guard!  Be alert!  You do not know when that time will come."

Clocks.  They're everywhere!  On our computers, our phones, our wrists, stoves, microwaves, coffee makers.  And the list goes on.  If we want to know the time of day, we do not need to look far to find it.

Recently, our clock, an actual one hanging over our calendar board in our kitchen, gives up the ghost.  No amount of battery changes can conceal the fact that it is losing minutes every day, moving slower and slower, until it no longer relays the actual time.

It's time, pun intended, to let it go.

But a lingering problem remains.  My husband, Danny, and I continue to look up at that now blank spot on the wall expecting to see the time faithfully conveyed.  It is a habit not easy to break.

"Do you want me to get a replacement?"  Danny asks one day.

"It would be nice," I say, "but not mandatory.  Maybe we just need to adjust to its absence."

Still, our eyes focus repeatedly on this very location throughout the day.  Expecting to see what's no longer there.  Wishing to know the time when we could all too easily venture otherwise.

With no plans to replace the tired and worn-out clock, Danny finds himself at our local Target on another mission which happens to lead him right through the clock aisle of the store.  He stops.  He looks.  He sees, and buys the perfect replacement!

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you are well acquainted with my dire need for coffee in the morning, and the tender affection I have for coffee in the afternoon.  You can stop by our house any day, any time, and be guaranteed a fresh cup.  It would be my absolute pleasure to serve you one!

Relieved once again to raise eyes to that once uncomfortably lonely space on the wall, and pleased as punch to see both time and the standing invitation, I remember:  I know neither the day nor the hour.  I can plan.  I can scheme.  I can trace the plodding hand of the clock which ticks away the seconds.

But I cannot know.

I cannot know the when and where, the why and wherefore.

Who can?

We want to.  In our human frailty, we want to.  But we can take comfort in this:  It is beyond not simply us, but beyond the knowledge of the Son.

As terrible and horrific and disturbing these times in history are, we need to remember that God is in control of it all.  His timing is perfect.  He knows when to intervene.

And He will when His time is right.

There is no time on our clocks which will reveal it.

~

How do you keep watch?

Prayer:  Father, let us understand that in You, there is no time, no limits, no end to Your love.  May we all be faithful in spending our time here on earth to honor Your great glory.  Nothing, in all our seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, could be spent better than that.  In Jesus' name, we pray.  Amen.