Whether we feel time is speeding by or moving too slowly, we all have one thing in common: we treasure the time we have. We want to have as much control as possible over what we do and how we spend our time. But in the end, our time really belongs to the Lord. So this month, I invite you, and I challenge myself, to place all of your thoughts about time—your past, your present, and your future—into God’s hands.

Past, Present, and Future. If you have any regrets about your past, you’re not alone. So do I! But God wants us to know that he forgives every wrongdoing from our past, even serious wrongdoing. He doesn’t look at me, for instance, and think, “Well, Jeff, you really messed that one up!” Rather, he looks at all of us with love and says, “I was with you when you made that bad choice and on that other day when you fell into sin. Remember, I have removed your sins from you ‘as far as the east is from the west’” (Psalm 103:12). While wrongdoing on our part calls for confession and at times restitution, God never defines us by our past, and we are not bound by poor choices in our past.

When we consider the future, some of us may fear growing older and coming closer to our own death. That’s actually a normal reaction. But God is the Lord of our future, just as he is Lord of our past. He wants to assure us that we need not fear death because our lives belong to him. When Jesus was raised from the dead, he conquered death. Now he has promised to do the same for us as we strive to live out our faith in him. Remember Paul’s words:

Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Corinthians 15:54-55)

So place your future in the Lord’s hands: tomorrow, next week, and that final day when you go to be with the Lord.

We can’t live tomorrow now; it hasn’t come yet. We can’t get yesterday back; it’s already gone. All we have is today. Today is our day to love the Lord, to serve the people around us, and to build the kingdom of God. Today is the day to hear God’s voice—in prayer, at Mass, or at any time during the day. Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let’s rejoice in God today and be glad (Psalm 118:24)! Let’s dedicate every discussion, every meal, every moment to him Today. After all, he owns our lives— past, present, and future—anyway.

Jeff Smith
President
jeff_smith@wau.org