In past posts I mentioned a little about our journey with my mom. One of the biggest blessings through the whole process was the gift of TIME. This was what I focused on for the first few weeks. While I was creating memories with my mom, family, and friends, I had two other friends receive a phone call that both of their father’s were fading fast and to come and say goodbye. I thought I had received that call that evening in October. Both of their parents passed away shortly upon their arrival. God kept mom on this earth for slightly over two months. The gift of time.
My mother was spared the burden of the ravages of chemo and radiation that accompanies cancer, or a condition that robs the mind, like Alzheimer’s. Although she endured horrific bouts of pain and nausea, the episodes would come and go. She was still able to spend quality time with the ones she loved. We reveled in KAIROS.
The ancient Greeks have two words for time, Chronos and Kairos.
Our culture perceives time as Chronos – chronologically. We view time as something that we measure and quantify. It is something that we view as valuable and not something to waste. Time is something we view as “ours”, as if we “own” it.
How would your speech change of you believed time is something that belongs to God? That time is a gift He gives to us.
Psalm 90:4 – “for a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.”
2 Peter 3:8 says – “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”
Proverbs 16:1-4 “To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the LORD comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD. Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. The LORD works out everything to its proper end— even the wicked for a day of disaster. (This is a good reminder that no matter how wonderful your plans and intentions are, they must eventually give way to God’s. Do you make it a habit of setting your plans, ALL YOUR PLANS, before God for His approval?
Kairos, on the other hand, focuses on the quality and the content of time itself, independent of length. It is filled with opportunity; eternal significance and possibility. It is a time of circumstances and relationships.
Galatians 6:9-10 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have OPPORTUNITY (this word derived from kairos), let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
When God provides you with opportunities (try not to think of them as interruptions), what is often the nature of these opportunities? This was a huge thing for me. Shifting my thought process from perceiving an interruption (messing up with my chronos timeframe), to an opportunity, (the present kairos moment full of possibility.)
2 Corinthians 9:6-8 “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” (This verse is often mentioned regarding finances, but I can see it relating to time as well.)
What if we shifted our perception of time from Chronos to Kairos? If we can thank God for His provision, and express for the opportunities He gives us to love others, the opportunities he’s allowing us to share. That out of our love for Him, we can freely give of ourselves without reluctance or compulsion. Each moment is a gift of TIME.