February 19
In These Times
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time be born and a time to die… –Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. ––Romans 8:30
“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
Chrissy and I often talk about the fact that as we get older, it’s less about us and more about our children, our grandchildren, and their grandchildren’s children. When I open my news sources on my phone, it’s easy to worry about what kind of world my kids and grandkids are inheriting. If I let it, the thought makes me deeply sad. You don’t need to be a parent, however, to share my concerns. Wars and rumors of wars. Spiritual confusion and chaos. Political divisions as deep as the Marianas Trench.
Are these dark times? You can look at it that way, and it’s all a matter of perspective. To live in 14th –century Europe during the Black Plague would have been no picnic. Nor would it have been easy to live in a village along the eastern coast of England in the 800s, wondering whether Viking marauders were going to attack your home in the dead of night. Every age has its darkness, because the “god of this age” has been running amok since the Fall (2 Corinthians 4:4).
But here’s the encouraging part: It’s no accident that you and I were born at this moment in history; nor is it an accident that your children and grandchildren were either. As today’s verses note, God determines when each of us lives—He knew us before we were in our mother’s womb (Jeremiah 1:5), and has placed us here “for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14). Put another way, it is not bad timing or the luck of the draw that has you and yours drawing breath in the early part of the 21st century.
Tolkien—a strong Christian— says it so well in Lord of the Rings. Understandably, Frodo is deeply burdened by the weight of his assignment to destroy the evil ring of power, and wishes the task didn’t fall to him. Gandalf responds, “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” I take great comfort in this idea: We cannot control the times in which God has chosen for us to live, but we can control how we respond to them.
Man of God, don’t give in to the despair that surrounds you in this broken world. Know that God has placed you right where you are, and right at this time, because He has a specific, powerful plan for you. Your job is to discern that plan (through reading His Word, listening to His Holy Spirit, and surrounding yourself with godly people) so, like Frodo, you can determine how best to use the time that has been given to you.
Lord, sometimes the darkness of this world feels overwhelming and hopeless. I accept the fact that you’ve placed me here according to Your timing, so help me to understand and accept the assignment You have for me.