Before the World Race, I was generally a very time-conscientious person. If you and I planned to meet at 3:30pm for coffee, you can guarantee that, unless I hit unexpected traffic along the way, I would be there at 3:28pm. I was usually at work at least half an hour early. I was prompt, punctual, and admittedly prideful about my attentiveness to time.
And then the World Race happened.
We started our journey in Africa, where appointments are usually loosely established and it is not uncommon to have to wait hours for scheduled events to begin. I did my best to adapt to “Africa time,” trying to learn patience while still looking at my watch to see how many minutes of waiting time I could add up and brag about in a blog.
But God had other lessons He needed to teach me. Towards the end of our third week in Kenya, my faithful watch of five years suddenly stopped working. I bought a replacement battery, thinking I would be back in my time-driven groove within the hour. When the first battery didn’t work, I exchanged it for a second battery, thinking the first one was probably poor quality. The second battery didn’t work either. So at that point, I realized I would probably just need to let go of time while I was in Africa, figuring that at least I was in a culture that would be forgiving in this respect. I promised myself I would still try to fix my watch, but for the meantime, I would try to let go of my need to control my time and let God do His thing.
When we arrived in the Philippines for Month 4, I brought my watch to a professional watch repair center, figuring they would be able to understand the mechanics of my watch and restore my ticker to its full working condition. I was wrong. I ended up buying a new watch, which, though on a one-year warranty, lasted three months before water destroyed it. Mind you, it was a good quality, water-resistant watch made by a respectable watch company.
By this point, I realized there was something deeper than just my obsession with time afoot. I needed to let go of my schedule completely. I needed to let go of my need to control every minute of "my" time. And most importantly, I needed to surrender my time completely into the Lord’s hands, embracing HIS time frame and HIS divine appointments.
I can be honest and say I haven’t learned those lessons overnight. But I have been able to focus on the more important aspects of life on the World Race, such as letting the Lord lead my day, even if that means chucking my schedule completely out of the window. I have learned that letting my schedule go has allowed me to spend more time investing in the relationships God has placed around me, most importantly the relationship I have with Him.
Embracing God’s schedule has been surprisingly freeing. I don’t have to worry about making sure that every moment of my day is scheduled. I just have to be obedient to His leading and His timing. It doesn’t mean that I have become completely oblivious to clocks and time commitments. But it does mean that I have been able to let loose more and trust that, if I happen to be late to something because I followed God’s leading, He had other plans for that moment.
And honestly, I wouldn’t miss God’s appointments for the world.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven…He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time; He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end…I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere Him.
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11, 14
