Psalm 106: 1 "Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever." http://www.esvbible.org/Psalm+106/
Day two of trying to focus on being thankful has me thinking a lot about time. Depending on your phase and stage of life, time can generally seem too fast or too slow. For most of us, it is both at once. It leads to a lot of complaining. We both hate being patient and never feel like we have enough time.
You may know that my grandmother is dying. The past 14 months with her battling cancer have seemed both too fast and too slow. The grueling long days watching her decline run into each other and yet if it were up to us, she would never die. But youth is no different! My daughter counted down to her birthday for an entire year and when the day finally came, she started talking about the next one! I too find myself hating being bored and rushed, while feeling both most days.
Yes, our ideas of time are so schizophrenic I sometimes wonder if we will ever get it right. But God does value time and He does value our seasons. Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that "for everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven".
I'm not sure my ideas of time are the issue or if it is more about my wisdom in how I use the time I'm given. I don't think it is truly a problem of impatience as much as it is my pride refusing to submit to God's schedule. For 49 days I plan to intentionally look at the gifts of God and I begin with the gift of time. Each moment that passes has a memory and emotion that accompany it. For the happy and the sad, they bring me one step further down the road God has marked for me to travel. For the moments that creep and the moments that fly by, I am one step closer to the eternity of His presence. And that is the first description of His goodness in this Psalm. The Psalmist said "His steadfast love endures forever". The Lord knows our frail and wayward hearts. God knows how wishy-washy we are, wanting both to hold on and let go all at the same time. He knows how impulsive we are - we would ask the hard things to pass too quickly for us to ever learn their lesson and keep the good things going so long that they lose their goodness.
Even now, I want to eat all the chocolate in the world, but never have a stomach ache. I want to run a marathon, but never have to get off the couch. I am a cornucopia of opposing ideas and desires, which would spin me in circles if God actually gave me every fleeting desire of my heart.
But He loves me too much to do that. His love is steadfast, not waxing and waning like my own. His love is eternal, not flippant and circumstantial like me. Oh, He is so good.
Give thank to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!
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