A Ticking Clock

"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." - Barack Obama

It's so funny how time seems to go so slowly when we are children. I remember feeling like I was in the 4th grade forever. Our 30 minute recess seemed to last half the day. I swung on the monkey bars, slid down the slide and climbed up it too. The older I got the more quickly time flew and with it came the saying, "There's not enough time in the day." One minute I celebrated my eighteenth birthday and the next, eight years had passed and I was preparing to marry the love of my life. It is true, life goes by in a flash. We only have so much time to define who we are and make an impact on this Earth. These thoughts bring a wide range of questions to my mind. More than wealth or any material substance, time is our most precious commodity. Just as I ask myself, I challenge you to answer the following questions: What are you doing with your time? And are the people or the hurts in your space worthy to occupy it?

Whether we believe it or not, there is a cost to everything. I have heard over and over in my life that freedom isn't free. By all standards I have found that to be a fact. There is a cost to every decision that we make, especially how we choose to prioritize our time. Many of us have examples of relationships that were time wasters. People that we knew deep down, were not good for us but we ignored the signs. I've stayed at jobs, when I knew that it was time to go, but I was too afraid of stepping out on faith to pursue what God was really telling me to do. Counting the cost can be plain scary cause it can mean multiple things. It could mean that you will get a resounding no to something that you want to say yes to. Counting the cost could expose that your life is not actually where you think it is or what you want it to be. One thing is for sure, counting the cost and following Godly wisdom yields fruit that not only can be enjoyed in this life but is eternal.

What do I mean by all of this? There is one thing that is undisputed - the mere presence of time make us each responsible for what we do with it. We can't blame anyone but ourselves if our time on this Earth is not what we would like or make it. No matter what happens, what you are saddled with that is beyond your control, or the consequences that you are living with due to bad choices, time still speaks and calls for you to respond. We must all respond. It is our response that determines the quality of our lives and outlines the impact we make on the world around us. When hate is thrown at us, do we respond with love or do we return hate for hate? If we are wronged, do we open our hearts and forgive or do we hold a grudge? Time doesn't wait for us to make the right choice. It just ticks. The choice is ours - we can either choose forgiveness, or we can choose to wallow in our hurt or circumstance. If we choose the latter, we will not experience the freedom God has destined for our lives. Take a moment to think about what you are choosing. Biblical scripture denotes the importance and preciousness of time.
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Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. - James 4:14

I hope by reading this post today it causes you to reflect and then respond. There are some people, jobs, places, etc that need to be evicted from your life so that you can make the best use of your time. Some of us need to sit and count the cost of our actions. Is all that we are doing and saying really worth it? We need to move our thinking outside of our small world of convenience and familiarity and open the scope of our decisions to a higher authority. Only then can we experience the freedom we long for. Only then, will we have begun the process of paying the price for who we are meant to be.

May God bless you to Live for God, Live with Purpose and Live your life Out Loud.
-Christine A. Houston