Finding Time or Making Time?

~Tracy Frederick

There is always something, isn't there? laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning,....and the list just goes on and on...and on!  I also hear dear friends, brothers and sisters (and myself) say, “I need to find more time for the Lord.” I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. That is, I’ve been thinking about “finding time.” I just don’t seem to “find” time sitting around do you? And believe me, I’ve looked. I remember once waiting impatiently for a segment of some talk show years ago that was going to give me more time in my day. I nearly cried when I sat pencil and paper in hand and found out I was already doing it. I need to give it up; give up the dream of “finding” time. It is not going to happen. However, our Father gives each of us a specific amount of time each day, no one gets more and no gets less. He watches and waits to see what we will do with it- laundry? (yeah, I get that we need clothes to wear), meals? (yeah, we need to eat), work? (maybe). We all know this familiar passage: “…choose you this day whom you will serve…” Joshua 24:15. I bet you will even finish the thought: “but for me and my house we will serve the Lord.” Do we? or do have we not “found” the time? So, perhaps rather than spending our time fretting over “finding” time, we need to start “making time.” You’ve heard that phrase before, and I like it. It puts me in control. I’m in the driver’s seat when it comes to my life. It helps me to remember that I “make” of my time what I will. Sure there are obligations like not forgetting to pick up the kids from school, or getting to work on time. But overall, we actually do whatever we want to do don’t we? We choose to “entertain” ourselves rather than looking into the word. We choose to sit on facebook/internet/the phone/television, etc. far too long and suddenly we “find” that we have “lost” time for nurturing our souls. The problem is, we don’t know how much time we have left. We do not know the hour (Matt. 26:36) when our Lord will come, but I bet we will “find” the time when that happens and hopefully we won’t try that sad excuse and say “I just didn’t have the time.”