"Microwave ovens are great time saving devices. But, as author John Maxwell puts it, “God prepares leaders in a crock pot, not a microwave oven.
More important than the awaited goal, is the work God does in us while we wait. Waiting deepens and matures us, levels our perspectives, and broadens our understanding. Tests of time determine whether we can endure seasons of seemingly unfruitful preparation and indicate whether we can recognize and seize the opportunities that come our way.”
Maxwell’s observations are very insightful. Think of it. Noah waited 120 years for rain to arrive. Abraham waited 25 years for a promised son. Job waited perhaps most of his life to see God’s justice. God prepared these Biblical giants daily, not in a day.
God was able to make something of their lives as they carefully listened to His voiceeach day, and as they obeyed God by doing what he said, and redeeming the time.
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"In 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner stayed awake for 264 hours and 12 minutes, the world's record. Randy was a young man who took waking up to an extreme. And while we don’t need to go as far as he did, some of us who struggle with getting up on time might benefit from resorting to extremes if need be.
I heard of one person who taped a $20 bill to the bottom half of a sheet of paper. He then placed the paper, top down, into a shreader and rigged the shreader into his alarm clock so that when the clock went off, the shreader turned on and he had only a few seconds to get up and turn it off before his $20 would be shreaded.
I’m sure that was an effective strategy for getting up on time! Numerous Bible verses warn us of the dangers of oversleeping. That’s because starting your day on time, with God, is the starting point to redeeming the time.
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"The most powerful people on the face of the earth are those who have no fear of death.
I recently read of a man whose doctor said he had only a short time to live. The man then came upon a situation where a gunman had taken hostages in a robbery. He boldly walked into the store, reasoning that he was going to die soon anyway and if he could help free these hostages that would be a worthwhile cause to give his life for. The man’s boldness startled the thief and gained the hostages’ freedom.
When deciding how to spend your time today, you can focus on how to live comfortably, or you can focus on how to serve others and die well. If you would like some pictures of what a life lived without the fear of death looks like, read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It’s a challenging clasic that gives accounts of Christians in past centuries, who overcame the fear of death and redeemed the time.
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"Four metal workers were each given a bar of raw steel. The first sold his for scrap metal and made a quick $5. The second made his into horseshoes and sold the same metal for $25. The third formed his into needles and sold them for $250. But the forth man carefully shaped his metal into precision springs for luxury watches and sold them for $25,000.
Each of the four started with the same raw material, but they chose to improve it to differing degrees. That is a picture of how differently some people view their time. God gives each of us the same 24 hours in each day. Some will trade it for immediate gratification without even considering what they could make of it. This mindset keeps them impoverished both financially and spiritually.
But, on the other hand, those who make the best use of their time will be rewarded, both in this life and in eternity. That's why pausing to consider how to make the most of your time, will redeem the time.
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