20/20 Vision Day 12 - Use of Time

Time:  “A daily treasure which attracts many robbers.”*

“Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” Eph 5:16KJV

Time is the only thing we all have equally in common: 24 hours in one day.

If you’ve been following along, you may remember that on Day One we looked at how many awake hours we each need.  This week let’s take a deeper dive.

Look back over one routine week of your life. You cannot change the past,  but you can change your perspective on it. Looking back can become a tool of change and transition. Use it as a tool, but don’t be too hard on yourself. 

·      Was your time dominated by a 40-hour-per week work responsibility?  If so, that helps to put structure for your future use of time.

·      Did you have other responsibilities in the home to fulfill? For spouse, children, parents, or pets? Cooking? Baking? Laundry? Dishes? Housekeeping?

·      How about other responsibilities outside of the home?  Did you work at a second job, church duties, or serious hobbies?     I have a monthly hobby which requires time spent the week before the meeting, the day of the meeting and time after the meeting to complete notes – all in addition to the hobby itself!

·      Did you have to help others with their schedules? School drop-off, mom’s hairdresser, or doctors’ appointments?

You may be carrying things in your head that you don’t really identify as use of time, such as travel time in the car or waiting time during appointments.  Time without structure can cause chaos and time with too much structure can cause anxiety.  

If you are recently retired, you may be finding too much time without structure, causing emotional (and even spiritual)chaos.  God can change that for you.

Ask him how to redeem the time he has given you, how to add some structure that is pleasing to him.

Too much to do in your days?  Why we struggle to say “no” is a challenge for each individual with that problem. That’s a whole different study.

How can you “redeeming the time”?  Some redemption may come from realizing that you have too much on your plate.  At one job I was carrying too many responsibilities. I was anxious and overwhelmed. I asked God which task needed to go.   Although i didn’t hear an audible voice, the message came through loud and clear: “You need to go, Mary.” Each role had a back-up person trained and I was free to leave that role.

Thank you, Father God, for giving us the work of our hands. Show us how to redeem any time which is not being used for your glory.

*This definition of time came on a service plaque.