I always like to say something about time at the end of the year. I’m writing this on Christmas Day and if you walked outside this morning, you would have seen a beautiful sunrise here in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. The beautiful light red color wasn’t just at one place in the east but the glow seemed to extend itself all the way to the southern horizon.
Time here on earth is our most precious gift but for some of my old friends and for my brother and sister-in-law in particular, their time on this earth has run out. Their passing causes me to pause and to think about my life. How long do I have left before my time is up? Have I accomplished what I set out to do in life or is there more for me to do? Who control’s these things anyway?
For Christians, there is an answer: The bible teaches us that “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16 NIV) That passage was very difficult for me to accept when I was younger. I completed my Ph. D. in Physics with great determination and effort. Later on in my professional career, I learned that I wasn’t in as much control as I thought. Things happened in my life that “weren’t in my plan”, and there was nothing that I could do about it! We are all faced with relationship problems, work related problems, family problems, and aged and dying parents – none of which seem to be in our control. But these things happen and they force us to take action which causes us to deviate from our original plan.
When you are forced to deviate from your original life game plan, taking some time to reassess the situation is not a bad thing. Perhaps you have deviated too far from God’s original plan for you and now you are being nudged to go in a different direction. Given enough time, you just might find a better job for yourself, better health, and more happiness than you ever dreamed of being possible. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
