We are born with a God-given purpose, with a length of life God ordained for us, and with responsibility how we use the time God gave us.
Make the most of your time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:16)
There are books and sermons on this topic, many of which focus on productivity. Those messages are about wisely using the hours in our days, being productive.
Accomplishing what the Lord wants us to do in any given time period is important. Many of us carefully plan our days (after prayer, of course!).
Opportunities versus Hours
But! We also need to be alert to unexpected opportunities arising in our planned-out day!
In Ephesians 5:16, “time” is a translation of “Kairos,” which means season or opportunity rather than “Chronos,” clock hours.
Make the most of your opportunities, make the most of your seasons, witnessing and serving in Christ’s name. We must be open to how we can fulfill His purpose for us in advancing His kingdom, even if it isn’t what we’d planned (!).
Conflicts
A conflict may arise between using every hour productively and responding to opportunities.
Picture yourself with a day planned with what you KNOW is God’s direction. It’s going fine, but then you receive an urgent call from someone needing help, and you believe God wants you to assist. Your prayerfully planned day is out the window. What you planned is no longer possible.
How do you feel?
I have a godly Christian friend who focuses on staying connected to Jesus Christ and then lives spontaneously. (I admire her, but don’t always understand.) My spontaneous friend is apt to say: “Great! I have an unexpected opportunity to witness about my Lord and serve this person in Christ’s name.” No problem.
Me? I am likely to be stressed, even though I dive into helping the person with the issue. (And stress, of course, can bring out not-so-desirable behaviors.)
Resolutions
Making the most of my hours is important, but I need to stay open to His surprises during the day. My plans, even after prayer, are my plans. They are not sacrosanct. I am the bond-servant of my Lord Jesus Christ and I must, I must, stay ready to follow Him That means my plans must be continually surrendered to my Lord’s direction throughout the day. And that I must rejoice in it.
I will continue to pray about what the Lord would have me do with my day, but I resolve to be open to changing events and needs and not be fixed on what I planned in advance.
Lord, HELP!
