18 October, 2011
Today's Free Devotional from Ellel Ministries International
My Times are in Your Hands
"My times are in your hands…"
Psalm 31:15, NIV
‘My times are in your hands’ was a favourite scripture of Corrie Ten Boom who lived with her family in Haarlem in the Netherlands until the Second World War. The Ten Boom family gave sanctuary to Jews on the run from the Nazis, until the hiding place in their home was discovered and they were incarcerated in camps. Most of the family perished but Corrie survived. Her life after the war was one of making herself available to the Lord to do His work, in His time and in His way. Corrie lived a long, interesting and fruitful life as the Lord took her from country to country to tell people about Him and to act as an agent of reconciliation. Her times were indeed in His hands.
Recently I’ve thought a lot about this scripture and wondered about my own understanding and use of time, and how it’s been influenced by the world in which I live. As I’ve looked around me I’ve observed that many people appear to have difficulty with time. Some have too much time and are bored. Others are run off their feet and hardly have a minute to sit down, let alone stop and think about what they’re doing and whether they should be doing it.
We constantly hear comments like; “I don’t know what I do with my time. It just runs away”, “I wish I had more time”, “I never have the time to do the things that I’d like to do or that matter”, “Why does time go so fast?”, “Before I know it my life will be over.” There are many more comments we could add to this list. I once read that time is a problem for mankind because the Lord designed us for eternity.
The question is, “Is my time submitted to God or is it something that I hold on to as mine to use and to manage in my own way?” It’s becoming increasingly clear to me that the more I choose to own my time and manage it my way, the more I actually abuse it. Conversely the more I offer my time to God and ask Him to direct the way I use it, the more I seem to be able to use it fruitfully without becoming exhausted from trying to keep too many balls in the air at the same time. My time needs to be in God’s hands not mine.
Prayer: Father I acknowledge that I don’t fully understand how to use the time that You have given to me. Sometimes I do nothing and waste it and other times I use it wrongly and abuse it. The result in either instance is that, according to Your purposes, there’s not fruitful use of it. I’m sorry. I want to submit the time that You’ve given me to You and I ask You, Lord Jesus, to please show me day by day how to use it aright. Amen.
Today's Writer : Margaret Southey Margaret Southey is a wife, mother and grandmother. She has had a career in education. Her passion is to understand the truth of God’s Word and to share it with others. She is part of the ministry and teaching team of Ellel, Africa.
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