My Time and Times

   I ate breakfast with a friend this morning, and we talked about the time of life that we were each experiencing. With getting older and the health and other issues that come with that, even if he is almost 20 years younger, we both wondered out loud what our span of years might turn out to be. God knows our beginning and our ending. He knows what we will do, and what we will think. The Bible says that He formed us in our mother's womb, and He has plans for us, to prosper us and not abandon us.

   God is in control and not me. I cannot add an hour to my alloted time, no matter how hard I try. My only goal is to live it as He wants me to, to find His will for my life in the situation I find myself in today, and to be faithful to Him and His word. My times are in His hands.

   But it is not only me, the above is true for all persons, and encompasses all the events of the times that I live in. All of the supposedly monumental happenings that occur each day, week, month and year. All of the wars, elections and world events that claim my attention.

   In the year of 2012, an election year in our 4 year cycle of national politics, the papers, TV, and Internet are full of voices. Claims and counter claims, "facts" and outright lies, accusations and achievements, fill every waking hour until it seems that if we do not get it right this time around, the fate of the whole world is in the balance.

   Then the thought comes to me: If God has me in mind, and works in my life, does He not collectively work in all the other lives that populate our country and world. Does he just sit back and see what "those crazy humans" will do this time around? Is He in control or not?

   Left to my own devices, I will surely make a mess. I'm glad that He puts some boundaries on my life, for my protection and my good. I'm glad that He remains in control, even when I don't realize it or think about it.

   I'm also made aware that I don't have to spend a lot of time worrying about the fate of the country because of one election cycle. I want to know what He would have me do when I cast my ballot, but I don't have to follow each new rumor or tidbit that falls out of the media. I can spend a lot of time reading stuff that casts a good light on "my candidate" or bad mouths the other, but that time can be a wasted effort.

   How much better to just be informed, to seek His will in my voting, and to remember that he is still in control and His plans will be done. Not that I do not matter, because each person does in His eyes, but I am not in control and the fate of the whole universe does not depend on me.

   I want to be where He wants me to be and using the time that He has given me, in the right way.