One of the most mind-boggling questions is “How does God relate to time?”
The Bible does its best to give us God’s perspective. “Don’t forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years,” it explains helpfully, “and a thousand years is the same as one day.” 1 Our relationship to time seems to be a lot simpler, but the truth is we still haven’t figured it all out.
My daughter recently turned five a few weeks after my son’s first birthday. Oh, the anticipation and thrill as she first counted the days to her brother’s big day, and then began looking forward to her own! To be sure, at that age at least, birthdays are the most exciting and wonderful days of the year; but although she doesn’t realize it, it’s her daily progress toward other less grandiose goals—her reading, for example—that will do much more to shape and change her life.
God didn’t design our lives to careen from major, consequential moment to major, consequential moment. In fact, most of us don’t go through life-changing situations too often. The character and quality of our life is forged in little moments. Every day we lay another layer of bricks on the structure of what our life will be.
Unfortunately, it’s all too natural to fall into routines and learned ways of doing things. And to pay no attention to the little moments because they seem so “little.” But in reality, these are the moments that make up our lives, that set up our future, that shape our relationships.
The concept of mindfulness has become an increasingly popular subject, as more and more people realize that they want to live each moment to the full and embrace the concepts of paying attention, doing few things at a time but doing them well, and living in the moment.
If we have a “day-by-day” approach to everything in our lives, we will choose our bricks carefully and place them strategically, starting with setting aside time for our Father. “Look at the birds of the air,” 2 Jesus said. “Consider the lilies of the field,” 3 He insisted. “Do not worry about tomorrow.” 4 He could have added, “Live in the moment.”