The Poetry of Teresa of Avila 11/17/2021
God's Gift of Abundant Time 11/03/2021
Time is not ours; it belongs to the Holy Spirit. We can neither speed time up nor slow it down. Heaven knows, we expend a considerable amount of energy—and time—trying to do both, but we cannot. And then when we look back on the timing of events, we often note a rightness there that we could not have orchestrated were we able. Beyond our control--perhaps thankfully.
This is good news, though we may not, at first, greet it as such. It rises out of the foundational belief that God can be trusted to provide. We may have learned, over the years, to accept that when God asks us to do something, God will also provide us the means to do so. Oddly, we often find it hard to believe God will be as generous with time as with ability.
Discernment is key to this arrangement. If we are saying "yes,” to something God asks us to do, we will be given the time, as well as the means, to do it. But often we make decisions about time without regard to focusing on God’s invitation first. There is both humility and wisdom in praying at the start of each day, "Lord, give me the time to do all that you ask of me today—nothing more, nothing less (nothing else)—and help me to know the difference.”
When I find myself "forcing" things because of a felt need to meet a timeline or control an outcome, I have learned to let go and surrender that significant detail to the Holy Spirit. There is a peace that comes with that, especially with a lot of practice.