Opinion : Pastor\'s Blog - Time Change

Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. (Dan 2:20-21)

Last Saturday we changed (hopefully) our clocks. What is it – forward or backward ? Oh yes, Spring forward and Fall backward. So, we got an extra hour of sleep on Saturday night or we showed up to church an hour early on Sunday!!!

Have you ever considered time? Yeah, I know, there is never enough time to do what you wish to do and always too much time when it is boring. But, what is time? Some think time is a dimension, like length or width. Who knows? Time allows us to plan, to schedule. Time can also restrict us and our activities. “There just isn’t enough time!”

My uncle used to live in the Eastern Time Zone and work in the Central Time Zone. He and my aunt had two clocks in their home – one set to Eastern Time and the other set to Central Time. ‘Dinner at six’ could have various meanings. My aunt and uncle seemed to work it out most of the time, but it was confusing when one or the other time zone went to ‘daylight savings’.

When I got up this morning, there was a beautiful glistening to the ground. The sun was just coming up and there was a light fog in the air. Winter is in the air. Did you ever wonder why God made the earth to wobble and allow for our seasons? Spring is a time for planting, Summer for growth, Fall for harvest, and Winter is a time for rest. With that ‘killing frost’ of this morning, exposed plants died. So did most of the insects. Winter is also a time of refreshing. It allows the earth to rest and be replenished. It allows the plants and the insects a time to recycle. Spring will be here – maybe not as soon as some wish.

In our wisdom, we sometimes attempt to manipulate God’s timing - often, to our own demise. The above quote is from God’s revelation to Daniel about Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and asked his earthly advisors for an interpretation. They could not give him one. The king was about to kill all his advisors when Daniel intervened and offered to discern the king’s dream. Daniel’s interpretation from God told the king about several kingdoms to come in the future and one that would never be destroyed. As a result of Daniel’s interpretation, the king placed Daniel in a high position.

Is it possible that Almighty God established the seasons? Could He have known about the dimension of time before time existed? Is God omniscient (all knowing)? If so, would we be wise to follow Daniel’s example and seek wisdom from our Lord and, just maybe, not rely on our own understanding?

“For He gives wisdom and knowledge to the discerning” concludes our verse. Songwriter, Bob Dylan wrote in the mid-60’s, ‘the times are a-changin’. We live in changing times. Where should we seek our discernment and understanding in these changing times? Time may go from ‘daylight savings’ to ‘standard’. Fall may turn into Winter. Governments come and go. In Whom, should we place our trust in these ‘changin times’? - Pastor Jim

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Pastor Jim Blair is the pastor of Blessed Hope Church, located at 1507 M Ave., Vinton. (Behind Theisen's)

Services are held on Sunday at 9:30 am followed by Sunday School at 10:45.

Men's Bible Study, Wednesday Evening 7:00 pm