Time is marching on! As I write this, 2013 is rapidly coming to a close. As you read this 2014 has already begun. Whether we want it to or not, time is marching on.

Time can be so elusive: Whoops! There goes a whole week! Where did the time go?! But then there are other periods of time that just seem so sluggish. And have you noticed how uncooperative time is? When you want time to go fast, it drags. When you want it to slow down, it flies by.

And not only is time uncooperative, it’s terribly relative. Two weeks on a vacation is never the same as two weeks on a diet, is it? And have you noticed how quickly deadlines come—but how slowly habits are broken? Yet each hour has exactly the same 60 minutes—no more, no less.

I can’t seem to get a handle on time. I can’t control it. It just marches on. But I know what I can do with my time. King David gives me a reminder in Psalm 31: “But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hands.” (Ps. 31:14-15)

That makes good sense! God is the creator of time. He is the controller of time. Ecclesiastes even says that He has an appointed time for everything… for every activity under heaven (Ecc. 3:1). So I can trust in Him. I can entrust my time into His hands. And I can hand over to Him the things He alone can master.

As time marches ever onward, perhaps it would be a good idea to start off this new year with a prayer lifted from David’s inspired words:

Heavenly Father, You are my God. Every minute of every hour of every day of every month of this new year is a gift from You. We do not know what these coming days and months will bring, but You do. Since you are the God of time, we gladly place our times in Your hands, for we trust You to be with us, to watch over us and to care for us. Enable us to live each day fully trusting in Your love and promises. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.