always a way

Thanks for taking the time to read this blog and pray for BCS/WCA! Lord willing, I plan to publish a new blog post weekly on Wednesdays throughout the school year. Feel free to subscribe (at the bottom of this page) if you'd like to be notified each time a new blog post has been published. We also have a prayer team that is always open for new pray-ers to join. If you'd like to learn more, just email me at cwarner@alliancechristian.org.

I once read that there are generally two reasons people write books - one is if they are experts about a certain topic, and the second is if they are very much not experts but want to dig deeper about a certain topic, hopefully making progress toward becoming an expert. While this is a blog, not a book, I very much relate to the latter reason for writing most of the time. And today is no exception.

I'm thinking about time and how it never seems like there is quite enough of it. Did you ever feel like if you just had a little more time, you could maybe... keep up with the yard? Finally organize your (or your kids') clothing? Start that new hobby you've been wanting to try? Actually get everything ready for the start of the school year? (I see you teachers!) Or fill in the blank with whatever thing a lack of time seems to prevent you from doing?

Truly it can feel like there is never enough time to go around.

In reality though, God has ordained every single day of my life. Psalm 139 says they were all written in His Book before one of them came to be. So why is it that I still feel this constant strain of wanting to do more than there seems to be time to do? Or feeling frustrated with myself for not using the time I have in a better way? For example, here is an excerpt from my journal on a day when I had the gift of some time to myself...

"I know I can't do everything I want to do, but oh how I would love to get to the end of these two hours and feel like, yes, I did the things that mattered most. As much as I wish it weren't so, the fact is I still spend a lot of energy worrying about what I should do with the time I have. And wishing there would be less time in my life that feels 'wasted'. I guess I need to remember to kind of take my own advice, to realize that actually everything counts! No matter what I choose to do or not do, isn't it true that God can still use it? Oh how I constantly need my perspective to be adjusted, my mind to be renewed..."

It's interesting that Paul tells us in Romans 12:1-2 to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. It makes it seem like if we can do the work of renewing our minds, we will see change happen. Or even if we don't see it, we can be assured that it is happening. I can't help but wonder if one of the results of "renewing our minds" is that we stop worrying so much about the supposed shortage of time. Maybe rather than changing how we use our time, the more important place to start is changing the way we even think about time.

I remember being in a meeting with a couple other people who were working with me on production plans for the musical I was directing. As we were talking about the timeline, I asked if there is any way one particular part of the plan could still work even though it was behind the original schedule we had planned out. I still remember the graphic designer's response: "There's always a way."

Could that be true? Is it possible that even when I get behind with whatever timeline I have in my head, there is another way waiting to unfold? Maybe it just looks a little (or a lot) different than the one I was anticipating. Let's imagine I am sure that if I don't buy more groceries today, I won't be able to come up with anything good to make for supper, and it will likely put a damper on the whole rest of the day. But then my family surprises me by being content with a meal of random leftovers including a half-eaten box of Cheerios. And we end up playing a spontaneous game of Memory - that would have never happened if I had gone out for groceries.

Of course I recognize there are times when it really does appear that we've run out of time. Or when waiting on another way doesn't work out with such a happy ending. Maybe we miss a deadline to pay a bill and get slapped with a huge late fee. Or perhaps a more extreme example would be when we lose a loved one before we had a chance to say everything we wanted to say. Is there really a way in these circumstances?

I wish I had an easy answer. I guess sometimes the way is a bit harder to see. But there is an old song that I think rings true, whatever the particular situation we're facing. The chorus goes like this:

God will make a way where there seems to be no way

He works in ways we cannot see

He will make a way for me

He will be my guide, hold me closely to His side

With love and strength for each new day,

He will make a way

He will make a way (God Will Make a Way, by Don Moen)

I'm not always very good at managing my time. And I'm not always very good at remembering that God's timeline is not the same as mine. When I think I don't have enough time, or I've run out of it, there really might still be a way. It just might not look like the way I was picturing.

I'm no expert when it comes to knowing exactly how to live out this truth. But I guess that's why I'm writing about it - hoping somehow it helps me make a little progress. My prayer for all of us is that as we keep living our lives one step at a time, we will keep seeing God make a way. And we will trust that with God in control, there is always a way.

Artwork by Adam Lunger (adamlungerart)

This portrayal of a desert scene reminds me of how God sometimes surprises us by making a way through what feels like a desert. May our eyes be open to see the beauty around us and to remember He is with us, even when we can't yet see the way.

Pray with me...

... that God will provide what each school needs in His time

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Ecclesiastes 3:11

... that God will grow in each person in the ACSD community a deeper trust in Him

Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8

... for strength and wisdom for all who are leading the ACSD community, helping them to make the most of the remaining time between now and the first day of school

So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don’t be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to. Ephesians 5:16-17

~ Carrie Warner, ACSD Prayer Team Coordinator

Soli Deo Gloria

To God alone be the glory