As my two oldest children were growing up, I was what you would call a ‘child custody weekend’ dad. What that means is that every other Friday I would get off work and drive to pick them up for the weekend, and then make a return trip on Sunday night to take them back to their mother’s house. It was not always easy, but I was always there and on time. Do I deserve a medal or an award for that? No. Not only was it my duty as a father (despite the circumstances) to spend time with them, but I also enjoyed those weekends with my two children.
When they were young, the trip was necessarily hard for all of us. Nothing can be more boring to an eight or nine-year-old than a long trip in a vehicle. I think I’ve written about that in a previous blog? Our own trip usually took about an hour, which made it two hours for me if you think about it. To avoid the constant question of “how much further, daddy?” from the two of them, I came up with a little game that was designed to help them learn to track the distance for themselves. I would ask them (pointing to the digital clock on the car radio) what time did they think we would get home. They would both make their guess, and I would enter a guess of my own afterward.
With me being in control of the car - the speed as well as the route; I was always right on the money. They were amazed and thought I was the smartest daddy ever, because if I said some mysterious time such as “5:31” for instance, we would magically make it home at exactly that moment with very rare exception. The ruse went on for many years before they finally figured out how I did it. But while they were young, the gambit worked and it wasn’t all that bad to see the wonderment in their eyes as they looked up to me as some sort of time-controlling Einstein.
I couldn’t really control time, and I still can’t today. Life goes on and the years speed by, leaving us sometimes to flounder in their wake. But I knew the route back then and could estimate the vehicular speed as well as the time and distance required. I guess the most important fact is that we always made it home.
One of my favorite verses is recorded in Romans, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.” As a Christian, I know that God is in charge of everything in my life, even when I least expect Him to be. He controls time, He controls the events in my life, and He watches after my heart during sunny days as well as during the dark ones. I do not have to understand everything that happens in my life, I only need to know that He has a plan for me. His plan is perfect and good; my goal therefore is simply to find and follow that plan. When I do so, things have a funny way of working out in my life and I know that from experience. It has never been merely coincidence.
It’s a long road we travel on this earth, and sometimes it can be a hard one. But I’ll say it one more time here; God is in control. He alone is the master of time and space, and we would do well to leave the navigating to Him.
With God in charge, we can be assured we’ll safely arrive at home. I'm sure that we'll also be on time when we get there - His time.
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