My husband loves to rescue Ford pickups and bring them back to life and somehow, he always finds them. He says that they call out to him to be rescued, he’s probably right. He has a God given gift to see the vision of the restored pickup while it is in it’s worst state. He sees the end result from the beginning and as he builds, he finds joy and satisfaction in the restoration process. Every time he begins a project, someone comes along who is interested in purchasing it when he is done, they buy into the vision, before it is complete. He recently finished and sold one of his “rescues.” I asked him if he made money on it, to which he replied “Yes, I covered my expenses and then some,” he paused and then continued, “Not counting my time.”
Counting our Time
Historically and culturally time has been discussed and categorized. It is measured and presents order; it is related to movement in action and duration. Time has beginnings and endings, and it also is eternal. The Old Testament stories speak of the “passing of time,” or “over the course of time,” in one story in the book of Joshua, God had time stand still (10:13). God’s people understanding His time was so important that one of the twelve original tribes “…Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do,” 1 Chronicles 12:32.
However we perceive time, one thing remains true, God does not operate in our timetable. While we may celebrate Him by the days marked on our preprinted calendars (you know the Christmas and Easter moments), He lives outside of time, “Behold, I am making all things new…I am the Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the end.” Revelation 21:5-6
Many grew up diligently going to every Sunday service, Wednesday prayer meeting and summer bible school, the calendar of religious activity, fitting God into predetermined time. God measures time on His eternal schedule to which we do not have a printed copy. However, we do have an obligation, and even an ability as believers in Christ to learn and discern Kingdom Time.
Luke 12 records Jesus addressing the Pharisees as hypocrites for not doing so:
“… “When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once, ‘a shower is coming.’ And so it happens. And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘there will be scorching heat,’ and it happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?” (Luke 12:54-56 ESV)
There are several words that are used to describe time in the original languages of scripture. For today we are going to focus on two that we see in Greek: Chronos and Kairos. “Chronos” simply put is more general, (think chronological) and could measure sections of time, (summer, first grade, birthdays.) The word that Jesus was using in the above passage is the word “Kairos.” In the simplest form, “Kairos” describes a definitive moment in time. It requires an awareness that something momentous is happening.
When Jesus is chastening the Pharisees in the scripture above, He is essentially (in Kammy words,) saying, “Hey you guys are supposed to be the brightest religious minds. You know the prophets told you I was coming and yet you have limited your awareness to the clouds in the sky. You cannot even discern this moment—I am the Kingdom—and I am right here- in front of you!”
In today’s world Chronos time rules us. We have calendars on our phones, we make appointments in advance, we schedule, plan, highlight and mark time based on events in life. Duty keeps us on schedule. Living the Chronos time line is engrained in us from birth, and we are creatures of it throughout our entire lives. It is not a bad thing, but it can become a blinding thing.
There is an interesting story that I like to call “The Demon Pig” story. It appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke and by reading all three we get a full picture. In Luke we learn that Jesus “commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time [CHRONOS] it had seized him.)” (Luke 8:29) The man had been tormented by evil for a very long time, day after day. Until Jesus came upon the scene. This demon possessed man was about to have a KAIROS moment – an encounter with the Living God! Matthew adds that as Jesus encountered this man that the demons cried out, “O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time [KAIROS]?” (Matthew 8:29) The demons are aware of the importance of Kairos time – are we?
A life lived on planet earth is a limited by TIME, Chronos time. However as disciples and believers, followers of Jesus Christ are called to live in Chronos time, and to learn Kairos time. We are stewards of both. One is earthly, one is heavenly. When the disciples were having their last conversation with Jesus before He ascended, they wanted details about what was to happen next. Jesus answered them, “it is not for you to know times (Chronos) or seasons (Kairos), that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses…”
Aren’t we just like the disciples, we want to know what is coming next. And the answer that Jesus gave the original disciples is the same answer for us today. The entirety of time (Chronos and Kairos) are in the FATHERS hands. The way that we learn to operate in them as believers is by receiving power from Holy Spirit. The original disciples received Holy Spirit by baptism at Pentecost, a Kairos moment that had been prophesied about by Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Joel, and it was these disciples who first learned to steward Kairos time as the church was birthed within the Kingdom, and the Gospel spread.
The way God worked with the original disciples is the way He works with us today. The Holy Spirit has not ceased to exist, nor ceased pouring out to all those who seek Him. Each and every believer is called to the renewal of their mind and maturity into Sons of God. This happens as we develop an awareness of Kairos moments breaking into our lives as we walk the Chronos path. Then, just as the original disciples we read about in the scripture, our maturity in Kingdom understanding provides opportunities to steward Kairos moments for others.
Time Is Currency
Much like my husbands response, “not counting my time,” we often don’t think of time as being currency. Yet it really is. At birth we only have so much of it to spend. When we are young and not yet enslaved by the demands of the world, time is not a constraint. Unless we are tired, or hungry, we pretty much are looking for things that offer us joy, adventures, discoveries, and challenges that we can conquer. {Maybe that is why the scripture tells us to have “childlike faith!”} Then we “grow up” and get through those survival years then time seems to have more value, it becomes something you don’t want to spend so easily.
ALSO, like my husband response, “not counting my time,” The Father doesn’t condemn us in our time, or charge us for His. He rescues us in our worst state, and sees us fully restored, before any work has even begun. Like those pickups in my husbands garage, sometimes some dismantling must happen first, maybe a rewiring, making crooked places straight, repair the broken places. The Father knows every dent and scratch that life has left, (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “A Time for Everything.”) but His promises don’t come out of Chronos time, they come from Eternity to His earthly family at Kairos moments. He puts His time in our hearts, and restores us to full glory.
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil — this is God’s gift to man.” Ecclesiastes 3:10-13
The Father by the Power of Holy Spirit brings us into Kairos moment after Kairos moment after Kairos moment, as we learn to yield to His eternal timing and trust the One who made us. The celebration of Pentecost is coming up in June. What an amazing time for us to begin the journey of learning to walk in our personal understanding of God’s timing for our lives. He sees our ending from our beginning and He holds eternity. He is Good, All the TIME!
Blessings
Kammy