Submitted by Junior Spooner, Kinnaird Church of God
I had been on numerous trips in my life before, none however like this road trip from Simcoe, Ontario to Castlegar, B.C.
It was not the long roads across the prairies, neither was it the differences in geological formations from province to province that had captured my imagination.
What fascinated me most about my trip across the country was the time — five days.
Think for a moment how quickly we say these two words “five days” — it literally takes no time at all, maybe a few nanoseconds.
Think about it a little more and compare the difference between saying “five days” and the length of time it requires to get from Ontario to B.C.
It took us “five days”, yes, Monday to Friday, it is way easier to say “five days” than to drive five days.
One of my fascinations about reading the Bible is the time it takes for people to complete journeys and the time involved in waiting for events to occur. Since we are speaking about journeys, how long did it really take the Hebrews to walk from Egypt to the Promised Land?
How long did it take Paul to travel from his arrest in Jerusalem to his house imprisonment in Rome (Acts 23:11)? Do we know how much time Abraham took to complete his journey from his homeland to the land he was shown in Genesis 12:1?
Not that these are the questions of great theological investigations, but think about the time involved in each scenario.
Here is one of the many things I have discovered as I was tripping across the country: I had time to think.
I had time to reflect on some theological matters, time to consider the grander things in life, and time to reflect on the simple beauty of nature.
Importantly, I had time to pray. With five days between here and there I was afforded time to reorganize my priorities, goals and desires.
Like most people we are busy, time to think and reflect deeply is a luxury we don’t get every day.
Each day after I handed over the driving to my brother, I had the time to do all of the above.
Admittedly we all may not have five days like I had, but each day we need to break the busyness and find time to reflect and think. Similar to the the weekly Sabbath, we need time to break the rhythm of work and busyness for rest and reflection.
Use some time daily to think, to reflect, and to spend time with your creator.
As with all things important, “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 3: 1).
Please find the time.
P.S. Don’t even bother to feel guilty about this time of reflection, it is a divinely given right.
Pastor Junior Spooner