Earlier this year I started working at the library. Immediately, time began moving faster.
When customers check out books, in most cases they have 28 days before the books are due back at the library. This means that every time I check out a book for someone, I hand it back to them and say (for example), “This will be due back on September 15th.”
And every single time our due dates slip into the next month, I feel it like a punch in the gut.
So many things make it hard to keep track of time, and so many things make time feel like it’s moving faster every day. Job changes, growing children, pandemics, vacations — good and bad things all steal my sense of time, yanking it right out of my hands.
After working part-time (and mostly from home) for a dozen years, I transitioned into a full-time position at the library this month. Now, on top of being reminded that September is right around the corner, just a quick book check-out away, my calendar is fuller than ever.
In the weeks leading up to this new position, I considered the changes coming my way, my evolving relationship with time, and my struggle to fit in all the things at any cost. That’s when I began hearing a voice in my mind chanting: “Redeem the time, redeem the time, redeem the time.”
Cue the anxiety! Cue staring at the ceiling when I’m supposed to be sleeping, staring out the window when I’m supposed to be writing, staring at my phone when I’m supposed to be present with my family, staring at my calendar, and wondering why I can’t breathe.
(Apparently, my version of anxiety comes with a lot of staring.)
That voice I heard urging me to stop wasting time, urging me to make another list, create a menu of quick, healthy meals, read more to my kids, focus on my new job, and find time to get on the treadmill . . . I thought that voice was God. I thought God was reminding me of Scripture that encourages us to make the most of the relatively little time we have on earth.
“Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”
Ephesians 5:15-16
I thought, for a while, that God was stressing me out. Or, more accurately, I thought He was making His expectations clear and exhorting me to work harder to meet them — no matter how hard it would be.
But that’s not how God works or who He is.
While He is perfect, God is not a perfectionist who expects us to be perfect. He knows well that we cannot be! He knows our limits and rather than hate them (or hate us for them), He promises to love us and help us. And when He reminds us that our days are short and advises us to redeem the time we’ve been given, He’s not dropping an oversized backpack of responsibilities over our shoulders. He’s not chaining us to a calendar or to-do list or some ideal version of ourselves while pointing to a ticking clock. He’s offering us a hand up, a light yoke that shares the burden. He’s offering us relief — from the rapid passage of time, from the ever-growing list of expectations we subscribe to, from the belief that we must make everything priority-one and cram it all into 24 hours a day.
No matter how open or full your calendar or to-do list is, I suspect you might have heard that chant of “redeem the time” as well. But when it comes to our time and how we use it, I think God is offering us more than a warning that the time is short.
He’s reminding us to walk in wisdom and to be intentional with our resources. He’s reassuring us that the troubles and anxieties of this world won’t last forever. And He’s encouraging us to let go of the things that don’t matter in order to make room for the ones that do. Most of all, He’s reaching toward us in love to hold up our arms when they get tired and to bear the weight of all our concerns.
If you find yourself hearing a little (or a loud) voice chanting, “Redeem the time,” and it feels like a judgment or a threat or a kick in the shins, remember who God really is. He is our Creator and Father, the One who knows everything about us and how much time (and energy and ability and motivation and perseverance) we actually have. He is the One who loves us unconditionally and who promises to lighten our load, not multiply it. And right now, whether it feels like our days are dragging or flying by, He is constantly and actively redeeming our time and us.
“Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.”
Psalm 130:7
I have been looking forward to today with such anticipation. This is the first day in ages that I have no commitments and it is not raining! I am physically and mentally exhausted. I say no to requests but when a friend needs a ride to a hospital 2.5 hours away, I need to do it. Retired, really? After a quick mowing task, I plan to go on a long walk and maybe take myself to lunch- alone! Like Jesus, I need some quiet alone time to refuel before going to the supermarket which I have put off for a week. Now to figure what God is encouraging me to let go. That is the hard part. But the weeks ahead look a lot less stressful with a lot less demands on my time. The thing is, I enjoy what I do at the time. If only the laundry would take care of it self and the dust bunnies would go find another place to settle…..
Madeline, I relaly hope you had a lovely day on your own yesterday! (Also, I hear you on that laundry. Why isn’t it automated by now???)
Dear Lord make me/us discerning in what is not important to recognize & focus on what is important! You order our steps, yes to bring You glory, but also to not add stress to our lives! Such encouraging insights Mary! Blessings ! (((0)))
Oh my goodness, what an on-time message this morning. I’m so glad to read this wonderful relief message for my own sanity. I just did my first online class at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia and I had a kind professor. My grade was achieved by the help of the Holy Spirit. The grade of “A” is a wonderful blessing.
I found out that I have pride about my grades. That’s why I didn’t want to take the Bible Course, I didn’t want to be ashamed of not doing well. I grew up being expected to make “A’s” all the time. It’s a burden to try and live up to being “perfect “ in school.
We allow the enemy to trick us that people are watching for us to fail or not live up to a certain standard. The only standard that we should aspire to live up to is Jesus Christ.
Oh what lessons we have to learn about our Christian Journey. Only what we do for Christ will last.
Thank You Lord for Grace and Mercy.
With Gratitude,
Brenda
Your Sister in Christ
Great insights, Brenda. It’s a burden to live up to “perfect” anywhere!
This, Mary, was precisely what I needed to read today! Thank you.
In a time when peoples actions tell me their love is conditional on whether or not I’m perfect; your reminder this morning that God loves me unconditionally even though I’m not perfect is a salve to my soul! <3 Thank you!
What a gift that He loves us no matter what! Thanks for being here today, Amada!
Thanks, Mary! I am retired, but still have trouble fitting important stuff into my day. I needed this encouragement!
Thank you for an apt message. I am retired and usually unable to read these wonderful messages. I feel blessed just knowing I am forgiven for all the chores falling through the cracks when I prioritize my spiritual wellbeing.
I came across this email while searching for jobs among they many many in my in box . Timing is everything (GOD’S) . I was doing exactly what you were expressing in this message . Is this the job for me , what if they reply do I want this job ? So thank you for the words and for God’s wonderful timing . Helping me to be still and trust. All the best with you new job at the library !! The due date always comes so quickly !
Thank you for your kind words, Susan, and best of luck to you in your own job hunt! May God lead you to the exact right place!
Thank you !
Needed this.
Dear Mary,
you- or god- spoke right into my heart. I was running this morning and I hardly tried to find words to God, to explain myself to him, to apologize, but actually I don‘t have words for the last three years. I miss Him so much, but life, and everything that had happened the last 4 years was so much exhausting for certain reasons.
I‘m longing for God but feel guilty and ashamed.
Thank you for your words, your thoughts, your life experience you are sharing with others.
Marion, I’m so grateful God spoke to you through these words. Praying you can feel His presence, love, and unconditional acceptance today.
Mary,
We put so much on our plate that we think has to be done. After doing it all we are exhausted. We need to sit down & plan out some spiritual white space on our calendars. Times when we don’t do anything. We simply rest in Jesus. It doesn’t have to be a huge amount of time. Lysa Terkeurst said it best in her book Your Best Yes “Saying yes to everyone & everything won’t make you wonder woman. It will make you a worn out woman with nothing left to give.” Prioritize your life & see what really needs to be done & what can be delegated.
Blessings 🙂