God and Time
The Bible is a fascinating book. It gives us glimpses of God, if only from the limited human understanding of its authors, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit. So I’m going to take it as a given that the Bible does not lie, but again, the Holy Spirit worked through human instruments in the writing.
If we agree that God: knows all, never changes, has no beginning nor end, and has no deceit in Him, can we attempt to have any inkling of how God relates to time?
I’m including here some ideas that my husband gave me, as we had a good discussion on this theme.
So, God created time; however, He is outside of time. We as humans don’t have a clue how that works, but there it is! Here are some Bible quotes relating to time:
Luke 18:7-8: ‘and will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”’ Comment: What does “quickly” mean for God? So often, don’t we ask God, “How long, O Lord?”
2 Peter 3:8-9: “But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” Comment: Ah, here is a clue, perhaps obvious; God has a different concept of time than we do.
Revelation 22:7: ‘“See, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”’ Revelation 22:20: ‘The one who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” Comment: What is “soon” for God? Bible verses can have many layers of meaning. Certain scholars say that Revelation was written before the siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.; the verse could refer to God’s judgment coming that year. Or it may refer to Jesus Second Coming, or to both.
But I gained a powerful insight in discussing all this with my husband. So often I have felt desolate, even somewhat abandoned by God, because “nothing seems to be happening,” or the changes I would desire (often in myself) don’t seem to be coming to fruition. But, hopefully looking at things more from God’s point of view, HE REALLY DOES CARE; He is just doing things in His own timing. What a comfort to know God’s care. Let me always remember that He has a good plan, with the best timing.
clarakatalin 
Slight? Momentary?
“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NRSVCE)
Until a few years ago (and I’m 70 as I write this), whenever I heard or read this Bible verse, I thought, “Slight? Momentary? It doesn’t feel that way.” My own hardest personal cross might be chronic mild depression (dysthymia). It has never felt “momentary”. It is probably “slight” compared to major depression. But I also think of many who carry what look like quite heavy crosses: chronic physical problems, financial struggles, family breakdown, and emotional or mental health issues. They never looked “slight” or “momentary” to me.
Here is another translation of the verses. I am adding this and the next one just to give different shades of meaning, hopefully helping all to understand the verses. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NIV)
And again: “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18, NLT)
This immediately preceding translation might give the clearest or simplest meaning for us. And the two verses actually explain themselves, if we think about it.
It’s all about perspective, eternal perspective, that is. When I began to focus on eternity, which after all, is a lot longer than an earthly life, the quote started to make a lot of sense. Yes, I or others may be suffering now, but COMPARED TO the rewards, joy, and glory of eternity, what we’re going through is NOTHING. Yes, it doesn’t feel good if we focus on the current suffering, but if we focus on what awaits people of faith in heaven, it’s incomparable!
This is not to dismiss the very real pain that all of us go through, but to give hope that it won’t last forever. And, we probably should try to alleviate others’ suffering, if not our own. But I’ve found it very helpful to forget myself and focus on the glory to come, while always working to improve what can be improved in my little area of the world.
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