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January, 2001

A Matter of Time
By Gerry Hiebert, Canada National Director

This article was taken from Standing Strong in the Great White North, a quarterly letter Gerry sends to Canadian Covenant Keepers.

Signs of the Times

The signs are everywhere, you can’t avoid them. Colored lights wink from the eves of houses and boughs of trees, gold, green and red decorations bedeck malls, mailboxes overflow with flyers and catalogues advertising seasonal sales. A glance at the calendar will tell you how many days to go on the off chance that a radio announcer hasn’t already reminded you of the number of shopping days ‘til Christmas. These indicators make it easy to judge our progress as we move towards the 25th. We know how many days are left to finish our shopping, do the baking, and put up the tree. We know when to attend which gathering, party or program. It’s all a matter of time.

Don’t you wish it were that easy to know just how long until your prayer will be answered? How fantastic it would be to have that future date marked in red on the calendar! “July 17, 2002—My wife is coming home!” or “Feb. 3, 2001—Husband to return today.” We could gauge our preparations knowing how much time remained before the big day. Instead, we are left to wonder, “How long, Lord? How much more time?”

Shades of Time

Time. One short word, four little letters, yet so many shades and meanings. Few concepts have so great an influence over our thoughts and our lives. Should you look up “time” in Mr. Webster’s reference work on the English language, you’d find three separate entries with a grand total of twenty-two definitions! You’d discover that time can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. This presents us with a lot of different applications and implications for this meaning-filled word. It also leaves a lot of room for confusion. On the other hand, the Greek language of the New Testament uses many distinct words in place of our single expression. Matthew’s gospel alone uses seven different words in its place. 

Chronos Time

I want to look at just two of the many Greek words used to characterize time. The first is Chronos, which refers to “a space or period of time” or “an interval.” Here are two passages where Chronos was used. “When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’” (John 5:6) “Now for a time of about forty years He put up with their ways in the wilderness.” (Acts 13:18)

Chronos refers to those stages, seasons or periods that collectively make up our lives. They may not always have a specific starting point and we usually don’t know just when they are going to end. They are a space we travel through on our way to the next stage or season. For example, the stand we take for the healing of our marriages will take a period of time. For some, it will be shorter than for others (although it always seems long at when we’re in it). But there’s no short cut, we can’t bypass it or decide to opt out and skip to the end. A sprinter who runs the first ten yards, catches a taxi for eighty and then runs the last few won’t win any prize. We must press on through the whole stage.

Chronos is the highway we travel on as we move towards a specific destination. It is the gestation of a pregnant woman as a precious life grows in her womb; it is the winter in which we long for the rebirth of spring, the spring that anticipates summer’s lushness, the summer, which promises an abundant autumn harvest. Our wait can feel like an eternity in the wilderness, yet I’ve learned it is often what we choose to make of it.

The Camera's Eye

I enjoy photography as a hobby and it’s taught me some things about life and God. My camera goes along whenever I travel and I’m always looking for something that might make a good photograph. In October I spent three weeks in the prairies connecting with our groups, meeting pastors and leaders and doing the work of this ministry. Circumstances dictated that I drive the highway between Calgary and Regina four times in the course of those three weeks! For those who’ve never made that particular trip, let me say it’s not the most scenic stretch of road you’ll ever see. But I had my camera beside me and I was always looking for a “shot.” While I’ll admit that I got tired making that trek, I never did get bored.

I’m training my eyes to see things the way my camera sees them. I’m learning to see contrasts and colors and shadows and shapes and angles and textures that I hadn’t noticed before. Although I seldom stopped and snapped, the journey was more enjoyable because of how I saw things. Even seeing the same thing a fourth time was interesting because each time it was in different light conditions or under changing skies or from another perspective.

Our season of waiting for the promise can be more enjoyable and profitable if we discipline ourselves to look through the eyes of God. He will teach us to see the little signs of progress in our hearts, we’ll notice beauty in the mundane passage of days from His perspective, we’ll even see the splendor in the wilderness when we let Him direct our gaze to its hidden treasures. Don’t despair at the season you’re in, embrace it and let God show you His purpose. Believe me, there is always a purpose for the place you are in. Have you discovered what it is?

Kairos Time

Another word, which also means time, is Kairos. Kairos is defined as “an occasion, set or proper time.” Examples: “At the time of harvest I will say to the reaper...“ (Matt 13:30) “Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” (Mark 13:33) Kairos speaks of a specific time or moment or event. It is often the culmination of the season, as in “the time of the harvest.” Kairos is the fullness of time.

A farmer knows that harvest comes after a period of planting, after rain and sunshine, after a long season of waiting and praying and hoping and believing that the seed will grow and produce. We know that autumn, the season of harvest, always comes after summer, the season of growth. Always! Summer never bypasses autumn to move right into winter. Harvest’s arrival depends on many variables; when was the seed planted, what kind of soil is it in, how much rain and sun has there been, is the frost early or late? Harvest will come and when is the only question (Mark 4:26-29). It’s a law of nature and it’s a principle for those who wait on His promises.

Know Your Times

When the season (Chronos) of growth is complete the moment of harvest (Kairos) will come. When enough time (Chronos) has passed the time (Kairos) for a miracle will arrive. Do you see the difference? I’m sure you do. Now let me ask you another question, where is your focus? Is it on the Chronos and how long this is taking? Or is it on the Kairos and that moment when God’s promises to you will be fulfilled?

I recall a song from my days of watching “Sesame Street” with our daughters. It went something like this:

“That’s about the size,
where you put your eyes,
that’s about the size of it!”

The implication is this; if you fix your eyes on a specific object, that object will appear larger than everything else. When we put our eyes on the days and weeks going by, time will dominate our thought lives, discouraging and distracting us. When we fix our eyes on the prize, it will build our hope, faith and excitement.

As I traveled the road between Regina and Calgary I would have been bored if I had stared only at the pavement and white lines I was driving on. It was the scenery all around that made the trip enjoyable. But the thing that kept me going was the destination I was moving towards; the friends who waited and the work to be done and the events I knew lay at the end of the road. May each of us adopt this attitude as we move through the season of sowing into our marriages. Learn to discover the beauty God always places around us and let the fulfillment that waits be our reason for pressing on.

We're sorry we don't have any special meetings scheduled in January, 2001.

February 16-18, 2001

Pacific 2001 Retreat - White Rock, BC (30 miles S of Vancouver). Covenant keepers from western Canada and the US Pacific Northwest unite for fellowship, worship, teaching and ministry. This annual event is held in cooperation with Vonnie Hieber, USA NW Regional Director. Contact Gerry Hiebert for registration information.

COME TO THE 2001 CONFERENCE

June 29-July 1 in Tulsa, Oklahoma USA

Farmers everywhere plant seeds with the expectation that they will reap a bounty at harvest time. Compared to what they collect, the amount of seed planted is relatively small. Maybe you can only put aside what seems like a very small amount toward next June’s conference. Plant that seed, pray over it, continue to water it with additional contributions, pray some more, and then trust God to provide the harvest you will need. “The farmer sleeps at night and is up and around during the day. Yet the seeds keep sprouting and growing, and he doesn’t understand how.” Mark 4:27 CEV