Normally, the hour hand on the clock on my bathroom wall travels a full circle twice in twenty-four hours, but it has been motionless for several days. I assume its battery has died, but I haven’t taken time to check.
The clock and I are rarely in agreement anyhow. My idea of twenty-four hours and the clock’s idea of twenty-four hours don’t seem to match, and most of the time, I struggle to keep my life in sync with that hour hand.
The problem is, I try to cram too many things into the twenty-four hours I’m given each day. I’m often late because I think I have time to do “just one more thing” before I walk out the door. I dive in to tackle the task, and the next thing I know, I look at the clock and find that time has gotten away from me. Once again, I am running behind.
I have told my family that I want to be wheeled into my funeral five minutes late because it would be out of character for me to be on time. “Make sure I am wheeled in five minutes late or you will be cursed!” I tease.
I believe, though, that I have finally reached a point in my life that I am too tired to fight the clock anymore. I can’t keep up with the pace I have been going, and my life has gotten pretty messy both inside and out.
Besides the fact that my current lifestyle is a mess, and besides the fact that it’s rude and disrespectful to others when I am late, I have realized another important fact. This way of life I have grown accustomed to isn’t the way God intends for me to live.
God is the Creator who determined that each day consist of twenty-four hours. He is the one who created day and night. He created the sun and moon to mark the seasons, days and years. He saw that it was good.
God also created every cell of our bodies and designed each system to work together perfectly. He gave us a brain to help us reason, eyes so we can see, ears that allow us to hear and muscles that give us strength as we work…. He created food to fuel our bodies with energy, water to keep us hydrated and air so we can breathe.
He created us to be able to work the ground and take care of the earth, but He also created us for rest. He created bodies that get physically worn down, especially when we push ourselves too hard. He created us with a need to sleep.
Our bodies need sleep to restore, rejuvenate and repair itself. When we sleep, our minds and our bodies can rest from all the work and stress that we have put them through all day. This is how God created us, and He saw that it was good, very good.
So, God created day and night to consist of twenty-four hours. God created me to work and sleep during each of those twenty-four hours. Yet, I have felt like I need more than twenty-four hours to accomplish all of my to do list and also find enough time to sleep. It seems that I have been fighting more than just a clock. I have been fighting the Creator and His plan.
The All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Almighty God, Creator of All is perfect. His ways are perfect. If God created my day to be twenty-four hours, then twenty-four hours is enough.