There was a recent season of my life where my greatest petition to God was for TIME.
Time to spend doing more of the things I was passionate about. Time to spend with more of the people who I wanted to invest in. Time to rest and take reflection in between all the busyness.
I was in a career and commute that provided very little time for those extracurricular loves, and my heart had become exhausted and burnt out.
So I prayed and petitioned asking God for time, fully expecting that He would grant me a desire that seemed so pure and good. But before God granted that request, He needed to refocus my heart around the idea of time. Through two scriptures, He reminded me of how HE planned to use and redeem my time.
The first was Luke 16:10, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”
Though this verse is speaking about money, God used it to teach me about budgeting and investing my time. I cried out to Him for more time, and He kindly responded, “What are you doing with the time you DO have?” I learned that I needed to start investing in people and passions with whatever time I was given at the present moment. Regardless of how much I complained, that time WAS enough. God had a way of taking that time and expanding it, making it fruitful even when it was a meager offering.
The second scripture God used to direct me was 1 Samuel. To provide some context, a barren woman named Hannah had been praying for a son and the Lord finally answered her petition! She had promised to dedicate that son [Samuel] to the Lord should her prayer be answered, and in these verses below we see her thanks-filled dedication to the Lord.
“Hannah [said], ‘I am the very woman who stood here several years ago praying to the Lord. I asked the Lord to give me this boy, and he has granted my request. Now I am giving him to the Lord, and he will belong to the Lord his whole life.’ And they worshiped the Lord there.” [1 Samuel 1:26-28]
As I read through these verses, I felt God convicting my heart and asking, “How do you plan to dedicate your time back to me when I grant your petition?”
That question woke my heart to my own selfish tendencies and grounded my mind in my King’s purposes.
HIS time. Not my own.
He was not asking for anything spectacular. Simply that the time I was given be seen as a gift to be used for His glory. That through His power, I would continue entrusting Him to expand the time I did have, and avoid throwing time into endeavors that do not advance His kingdom.
And I am still a work in progress.
As He’s blessed me with more time, it is a constant battle to be faithful in how I use my time, when my selfish heart wants to waste it.
But He is so faithful and kind, and continually reminds me.
“Look at the time I’ve given you! Look at the ways My kingdom expands when my people are faithful with time! Look at the ways I’ll meet you in whatever time you have to offer!”
He is not concerned with me filling every second of every day, and becoming a “busier” person. But He IS concerned with me dedicating my time to Him, and thoughtfully asking How to press into Him with that precious gift.
How you been petitioning God for more time or resources? Where is He asking you to be faithful with what you are given? In what ways is He showing you how to dedicate those resources back to Him for the kingdom purposes?Written By: Amy Hawkins Communication Team Member
