The first question most people ask upon hearing that something bad is going to happen – a diagnosis, a job termination, an adverse economic development – is “when?” “How long do I have?” “When did the affair start?” “When is that meteor supposed to hit?” Jesus’ disciples had the same response after he told them that this mighty temple they were admiring would be reduced to rubble:
When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?”
Time is among the things we have least control over in this world; it marches inexorably onward, never back. We hope knowing the timing of things will give us control over them, but it is an illusory sense of power. “Forewarned is for-armed” might be useful in the face of an attack, but does little to alter events in most situations. Knowing when bad things will occur rarely changes the circumstances, but we feel better thinking we understand the timing.
Christ followers are invited into a funny relationship with time. We live within it, bound by its “rules,” while we worship a God who is beyond it, a Lord who is “the same yesterday, today and forever. “ (Hebrews 13:8). The Greek word for earthly time is “kronos,” and for God’s time is “kairos.” We live in both times at once. While we count our minutes and hours and days, living in a kind of bondage to our watches and calendars, we also exist in the eternal present of God-Life, where all things are possible, where we are invited to live in total trust despite our not-knowing.
Part of our spiritual work is to become more comfortable in kairos time while dwelling in kronos. Worship in particular is meant to be a space in which we step into eternal time, not watching the clock, just being. When we’re fully absorbed in an activity that consumes our creativity, what experts call “flow,” we can also experience that timelessness. And we can cultivate that practice – stopping and stepping into prayer or meditation throughout the day, not checking the time when out for a walk or talking with someone, giving our full attention to being present.
The disciples wanted signs so they could be ready. In fact, we’re never ready for the end of the world, though it comes in small ways throughout our lives. When we are seized by the anxious “when?” in any area of our life, we can develop the ability to turn it over to God right in that moment. "Come, Lord Jesus, bring me into your time. Help me trust."
And we can always be ready to experience the presence and peace and power of God’s Spirit, which are already ours by faith, yesterday, today and forever.
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