One day this week, I was standing in line at a department store in the local mall. I was there for a gift card for my daughter-in-law for her birthday.
A gentleman was standing in front of me waiting to pay for his wife’s selections. There were about six people in front of us with only two cashiers. This is a typical scenario, especially this time of year.
The wait was a little long, mainly because everyone had many items; and the cashiers were going through their normal questions about emails and telephone numbers. The man in front of me was growing impatient.
His wife appeared on the scene with additional items, and he began a dialogue about having to wait so long. According to him, this was the worst place he had ever seen. How dare they not have more cashiers to accommodate such a long line! He obviously doesn’t make many trips to grocery stores or even the gas station.
As I stood there listening to his tirade, I actually smiled. I couldn’t help but think about what impatient people we have become. Our time appears to be very precious to us.
Ecclesiastes 3 is a wonderful study on the subject of time. “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Following this verse, Solomon presents us with a list showing the hand of God in every aspect of our lives.
We have no control over the fact that we were born. You don’t have to believe in God or the Bible to know that everyone dies. Those are facts. What we do in between birth and death is a matter of choices. We make them; we have to live with them; we will have to answer for them.
Solomon says, “I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. He has made everything beautiful in its time” (Eccl. 3:10 ESV). When we look at the list in verses 2-8, everything fits a pattern. The things presented are opposites.
Even with the things mentioned that we would prefer not to endure: dying, tearing down, mourning, losing, casting away, hating, and war; this is a process. In this process, Solomon says, “I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man” (Eccl. 3:12-13).
Pleasure should come to us through work and doing good for others. These are gifts from God. Who knows what good will live after us because of the way we work and the things we do for others. (See verse 22).
So what does all that have to do with my experience? It is an example of our everyday life, the way we feel about others, the ideas we express, our reactions to those around us. We have no time to be courteous much less patient, and those who see and hear us are affected by our behavior.
Our time is precious to us, and we want things to go our way all the time. We want what we want, when we want it; and we want now!
What if we looked at our lives as James did? He said, “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:13-14).
Peter said, “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever” (I Peter 1:24).
Both of these carry the same ideas as those expressed by Solomon. Our time on this earth is short. Work is a gift of God. What we have, we should share. We have no control over life and death. All is in the hands of a greater power.
King David said, “As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments” (Psalms 103:15-18).
We need to remember to use every opportunity for good. Open a door for someone, be patient with the cashiers, let that guy trying to get into traffic go in front of you, say “thank you” for simple services.
“So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17).
Sandra Oliver