We Often Forget That We Live in Time

By the time this article is printed, the 2 feet of snow outside my window will be gone and my tulips will be an inch taller. Right now it doesn’t seem possible, but I know it’s true.

This change of season reminds me of something I read by C. S. Lewis. He said we often forget that we live in time. We see the sorrows of today and think they will last forever, so we fall into despair. In times of peace, we tell ourselves that all is well and always will be. When an inevitable disaster strikes, we’re caught by surprise and wonder if God loves us. Surely a good God wouldn’t allow sorrow or hardship to interrupt our good times, would He?

Since we live in a world of time, says Lewis, we should never give in to despair by thinking that things will never change or continue in foolishness thinking judgment will never come. Time reminds us that this world is transient and not our home. Instead, it is a marvelous place where the Lord is teaching us to be more like Him.

The Scriptures tell us to “Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline? If you do not have that discipline in which all children share, then you are illegitimate and not his children. Moreover, we had human parents to discipline us, and we respected them. Should we not be even more willing to be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share his holiness. Now, discipline always seems painful rather than pleasant at the time, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Heb 12:7-11

Jesus knows that the unchanging peace and inner joy we long for are not found in time, but in eternity. So, as we watch the seasons change from snow to Spring flowers, let them remind us that the seasons of our lives will always change, but the Father who loves us never will. He will always be at our side disciplining and loving us and, when our time on earth finally comes to an end, He will joyfully take us outside of time and onward to our eternal home.