Counting Backwards

The stopwatch. The snooze button. The countdown on my microwave as I wait for something cooking...what makes these items all condusive to my life? They measure time.

Everytime I stand in wait for something in my microwave...as I watch those numbers count backward...29..28...27.......4..3...2...1...I think everytime...those were seconds of my life. I don't get them back. I stood for 30 seconds, and watched time slip in front of a stainless steel microwave. I think about how much of my life is on cruise control. How I can get to the end of a day, and not remember much about the activities, or interactions that brought me to another sunset. Was I truly on autopilot all day?

When I think about all of the things that are beating along in perfect time without interuption, I am wildly astounded at the complexity of Gods measuring tools. That which is not tangible, but is certainly contributing to our very existence...our life force. Your heart beats in time...your blinks are not a spontaneous rhythm...the music you listen to has a precise time signature. It wouldn't be considered music if it consisted of chaotic, random notes, and no specific beat. Seasons have their natural ebb and flow, without any of our contribution at all. They arrive and depart in compliance with a divine agenda from the heavenlies.

I know so many who live life in the meantime. WHEN I get that job...WHEN I move there...WHEN I have kids...I will be complete. I don't believe life is about feeling totally at rest. That's not to say that we should be unsettled and restless...but what it does mean, is we should continually race towards a new personal best, once the last marker of personal best was surpassed. I believe the most authentic appraisal of personal greatness, is how you are affecting your world...how you spend your time with those who need YOU most.

If our steps are ordered by the Lord,and the completion of our breaths are counted
before our birth, then I believe each millisecond of time should be lived as a symphony of service. Service isn't necessarily the act...it is having the heart of a servant. It's saying..."All things flow freely to me, and from me...my hands are open...nothing truly belongs to me..not even my next breath." I believe that going through life with this sobering acknowledgement, surely changes the way you see the world.

"Give freely and spontaneously. Don't have a stingy heart. The way you handle matters like this triggers God, your God's, blessing in everything you do, all your work and ventures. There are always going to be poor and needy people among you. So I command you: Always be generous, open purse and hands, give to your neighbors in trouble, your poor and hurting neighbors." ~the Bible

May we live life with open hands...so all that life has to offer comes and goes freely to and from us. May our hands reach beyond our fingertips, and rise to the great challenge of service. And when we meet our Creator someday...may He look contemplatively at our hands, and exclaim with pride..." you understood the lesson my beloved, and your hands touched the world as mine did...your time on earth was well spent...not a second was wasted".