This is the time of year when we all say, I can't believe how much he orshe has grown!

Look how tall they are ... I can't beleve how fast time flies! When the summer holidays end we

begin to look to a new academic and church calendar year, filling up with clubs, bible studies,

youth groups and buttery mornings. We start to think of Harvest plans and Christmas nativity

plays. It is a time that reminds us of years gone by.

 

When I think of the leaves becoming crisp and the air starting to have that nip in it I know that

Autumn is on its way. The years just tick by and we hardly notice their advancing until we look

at how people and situations have changed. This September I will have been at the church for

5 years! A lot has happened in that time.

 

We have run 5 amazing holiday clubs and are sbout to start planning for our 6th.

We have seen our Alpha programme grow and have welcomed adult and children baptisms as well

as having see new members arrive and sadly some dear friends depart. We have watched our bible

study programme grow on Thursday nights and our youth group expand on Sunday evenings.

We did not have a website when I came or the ability to record our worship services!

 

We are now on the brink of starting a buiding project to renovate our sanctuary and we are anticipating the union with St. Fergus and the possible additon of a youth worker. Times are excting but they sure go by quickly. We read this text in 2 Peter 3:8: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." God does not count time like we do. We think time might go by too fast or be endless depending on our perspective. A friend recently wrote on her Facebook page with a picture of her daughter "Time is a thief".

 

God sees eternity and all that we do flows into it. We may be worrying about the next thing but the Lord knows where we will utimately end up - In his kingdom where he has the victory.I had a terrible computer glitch this moming and I am ashamed to say how long it took me to resolve it (even with youthful help from a son!). I was so angry that I had wasted time I needed to use for work and got more annoyed as time passed. Yet what l should have realised is the time to God is not counted in the same way. God uses everything in my life to teach me and ultimately it will all shape me into the person he has designed me to be in his eternal kingdom.

 

What I think of as wasted time, God sees as a way to draw me closer. What I view as a frustration, God sees as an opportunity to help me grow.Next time you are stuck like me in a computer issue, or in traffic or in a meeting (that might bemoving slowly) or in some other stuation that seems to be trickling by ... let God speak into the challenge. Allow God to show you how the Lord wants to use this challenge to remind you that he is the giver of time.

 

The Lord is the one who controls the future, the present and the past. We only need to sit back and let the Lord be in the driver's seat If you are like me maybe you find giving up control a fight. I need to pry my hands off of some things! Jesus says in Matthew 11:28: 'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest'.

 

As I have been on holiday the past few weeks, I have learned to make time to sbowdown and torest. I promised myself I would leave space in my diary to do just that when I retumed. Week one back and I am alresdy struggling. I am going to get up and try again though, becsuse Ibeleve we accomplish more when we rest in Jesus and lean into him. Jesus provides the time |we need to accomplish all that is before us. He provides the comfort when we think time is a thief. He provides the reminders when we think back on the past and all he has accomplished in our lives. Our God is bigger than time and the Lord holds it all in his hands!

 

Don't allow the tyranny of the date or the cock to take away your peace. God holds a thousand years in his hands and it is like just one day. We need to trust we have just what we need for this moment and the next. He is getting us ready for eternity! Even when we find life ticking by the Lord is moulding us! Let us use the time the Lord has given us wisely and when we look back on it we will see all the good he has done in our lives and in our church! Hoping you will find time to join us this autumn got worship and in bible study and in prayer! Time with the Lord is always useful and beneficia! Time is not really a thief but it is a blessing to serve the Lord and to grow in his grace!