I think linear, sequential time is a fascinating aspect of God’s creation. God has created the time-space universe to support our eternal human life. The core of that life, of who we are, is our will. According to Dallas Willard the primary purpose of the human will is to align with and submit to God’s will. As image-bearers, we are to learn how to choose what God’s desires — to abandon ourselves to and to trust in God.

A major component of the environment in which we are to learn this core responsibility is linear time. Linear time reveals our need for someone beyond ourselves because we can never see beyond the moment we are currently in. The future, even the nearest future only a nanosecond before us, is unknown.

While we cannot fully see the future. Certainly there is some level of order and predictability. But there is never 100% certainty of what the future holds.

For example, I can be walking down the sidewalk. I can trust certain aspects of my environment, such as the cement supporting my weight. But I don’t know what the next moment holds. I may not see the crack in the cement that will trip me. I don’t know if jogger approaching me is distracted and will knock me over. I don’t know if my knee is going to lock up. I don’t know if a weakness in a blood vessel is about to cause an aneurysm. Our future is unseen and uncertain. Intentionally so. It compels us to trust someone beyond ourselves.

However, in our brokenness, we tend to trust in things such as money, reputation, possessions, health, and relationships. These things provide some measure of controllable certainty for our unknown future. And so we direct our broken self-centered wills into a form of self-preservation. We try to protect ourselves by amassing something beyond ourselves.

We also try to control time itself. Unable to control the future, we try to control the present. We create “time-saving” devices to perform tasks faster so we have more time to do more things that will amass more of the things we believe give us greater control and certainty. Time becomes a resource. Time is money. For example, The True Cost of an Hour’s Downtime from 2024, reports the cost of downtime in the automotive industry is calculated as $2.3 million an hour. That’s a little over $600 per second.

So, we develop new technologies and procedures to be more efficient and productive in this moment. We mine time for every second possible to amass more of what we think will protect us from the future.

God’s intention is that we trust him. He created us to be eternal co-creators and co-reigners with him in his universe. As such, the very cosmos is the environment in which we train and learn to surrender our self-will and embrace God’s will. 

As we learn to trust God, we become less concerned about protecting ourselves from the unforeseen future. We learn from experience that God is as present in our future as he is in our present. As such, we don’t need to worry about what may or is coming, because we are safe and well-kept by our caring God. We learn peace.

Dallas Willard states that peace or shalom is “life without fear or want.” It is “a kind of rest that comes from bedrock confidence in the holistic, universal provision of what is necessary and good.” What a beautiful description! 

I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next minute or in the next several years. What I do know is, I can learn a life of confident peace where I no longer fear what may happen in the future to me or to those I love.

This doesn’t mean bad things will never happen. Money will be lost. Possessions will break. Health will fade. Reputation will be smeared. Jobs will be lost. Relationships will experience conflict and heartbreak. Loved ones will move away or die. Regardless of what happens, God is good! We are safe in him. His goodness will prevail. He will provide everything necessary and good. Or as Peter says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1Pet 5:7)

We can learn to be at peace with our future. And our past. And our present. And as that peace permeates our thoughts, feelings, muscles, and bones, we can shift our view of time. We don’t need to see it as a resource to be mined in order to amass further protection. Instead of viewing time as money, we can start viewing time as love. 

Love doesn’t value speed, efficiency, and productivity. In fact, love requires a slower approach. More time is needed to competently bring about the good of others. Relationships take time. Listening takes time. Presence takes time. Healing takes time. Love takes time.