Begin or End each week with a Meaningful Inspiration.

In A Hurry

by Tim Knappenberger

Observers of human behavior have noted that people’s concepts of history and time stem from the very personal perspective of what we’ve known and experienced. To illustrate, do you remember when, as a small child, it seemed that Christmas took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to come? Now, as an adult, it seems you’ve barely put the last holiday decoration way when it’s time to deck those halls yet once again. Have those 365 days grown somehow shorter? Again, during the 60’s when my parents used to talk to me about what times were like "way back during the World War II," it sounded so ancient and distant that I could barely imagine how my parents lived long enough to still be around sharing those stories. Now, it smacks me right between the eyes to realize that when I first heard those war tales, less than 20 years had elapsed since VJ-Day and where I stood. The same length of time between where I now stand and where I was as I rocked my oldest (then firstborn) son to sleep. Namely, just yesterday.

It has been true for eons that, as we age, time seems to simultaneously compress and pick up speed. However, I’m of the firm belief that technology has intensified the compressing and accelerating processes to levels never known by our forefathers. NBC recently ran a very intelligent series called Brave New World. One of the episodes was devoted to our hyper-accelerated pace of life. The show’s host cited a recent development in the world of recording technology where a company is preparing to market a new generation of CDs that only have 1.2 seconds of silence between each song track instead of the standard 2 - 3 seconds. His bewilderment was wondering why those eliminated 1.5 seconds of silence mattered anyway. So he took to the streets to ask consumers if they thought the new feature would help persuade them to purchase the product. How do you suppose they answered? Yep, it would!

Given that kind of perspective of time, it is no wonder that expressions like "We will sell no wine before its time" gets completely lost on us today. Not only do we expect outstanding results from our efforts, but we berate ourselves harshly for failing to attain them instantaneously. Our mistaken notions of growing up in Christ and maturing spiritually is no less immune to this phenomena. In fact, the weighty expectations that Believers place on each other only exacerbates matters even more. Some would have you hold to the notion that Believers in Christ should be well along the road to sainthood only a few months or years following conversion. "You mean you’re still battling those old addictions and impure thoughts!? Are you sure you totally surrendered your heart to Jesus?!" Fortunately, the Apostle Paul offers us one of the best and most comforting examples of how the "spiritual fermenting" process really works.

Most Biblical scholars agree that Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus occurred around 35 AD. Following that conversion, Paul’s first attempt at preaching the Good News almost got him killed. He had to be spirited out of town by friends to save his neck. He then went to Arabia for a period of about three years. What he did there is not recorded, but we do know that he had not yet embarked on his impending career as evangelist to the Gentiles and planter of churches. At the end of those three Arabian years (circa 38 AD), Paul is presented to the Church elders in Jerusalem by Barnabas:

So he went in and out among them in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He spoke and argued with the Hellenists; but they were attempting to kill him. When the believers learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. Meanwhile the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had peace and was built up. Living in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers. Acts 9:28 - 31

In his second recorded attempt at public preaching, Paul achieves the same results; he’s almost killed! Again, friends pack him up and ship him off back home to Tarsus for his own good. To add insult to injury, notice what then happens in verses 30 and 31 to the Church after his departure. Things get better; numbers go up! Man Paul!, talk about a one-two punch to your spiritual self-esteem. Not only has three years elapsed since coming to Christ, but every time you set about setting the world on fire for Jesus, you tick off so many people that your life is jeopardized. I wonder if some well-meaning Christian career counselor might have advised Paul to return to tent-making and give up the silly notion of being a missionary to the Gentiles?

Finally, fourteen years later, Paul returns to Jerusalem:

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me…and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Galatians 2:1, 9

Please note the passage of time. From his conversion on the way to Damascus to his ordination by the Jerusalem church as a missionary to the Gentiles (circa 53 AD), eighteen! (count ‘em) eighteen years have passed by! Eighteen frustrating, halting, and redirected years have elapsed for Paul. Wasted, inactive years? Absolutely not! But neither had he accomplished all that he would later accomplish for Christ in the last thirteen years of his life. Accomplishments that include writing letters to fellow Believers that continue to bless hearts and fortify lives almost two thousand years after his death. Paul’s example should quiet hearts and serve as an example to us that in our nanosecond world, Sovereign God Almighty has all the time in the world…no, make that in eternity to work out His purposes and plans in us.

But that is why God had mercy on me, so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15-16

 
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners–of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.

1 Timothy 1:15-16

 It has been true for eons that, as we age, time seems to simultaneously compress and pick up speed. However, I’m of the firm belief that technology has intensified the compressing and accelerating processes to levels never known by our forefathers.

Send a note to Tim Knappenberger at:knapp@raex.com

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ŠTim Knappenberger