Choose moments over minutes- lesson #3 from a Mexican fiesta

I have thrown exactly one authentic Mexican fiesta in my life.  What an incredible experience! Upon reflection of this party of a lifetime, I realize that the experience left me with several life lessons that I carry with me even to this day, over 20 years later.

Lesson #3- Choose moments over minutes

When I invited friends to the fiesta, I requested that they be there by a certain specific time. I thought that they understood the importance of promptness, given that this fiesta served as a surprise birthday party.  So one might imagine my dismay when only a small percentage of the confirmed guests had arrived to shout "sorpresa" by the time my friend arrived. However, all of the guests did arrive... eventually.

I also shared my expectation of a specific time when the party would end.  The party eventually began to die down about two and half hours after my initial projection.  Even the young families stayed late, with parents safely placing weary young children aside to sleep as they continued to celebrate.  The guests did not completely trickle out of the scene until after midnight.  I simply could not make them leave.  Actually, I did not want to make them leave.  Once I settled down enough to throw away my schedule, I had great fun just being with such beautiful people as we partook of the music, food and festivities into the later hours of the night.

The guests' timing should not have surprised me.  Over the month I had already spent in Mexico, I could not recall many meetings or other events that began or ended "on time."  This did not seem to bother anyone but me (and perhaps one or two of my ministry team members).  I suppose mine were the only eyes that watched the clock. 

I eventually came to realize that my friends in Mexico valued time at least as much as I did, and possibly more so.  They just measured it differently than I did.  I lived for the minutes, planning for the expected, very controlled "blessings" that could fit into my own preconceived schedule.   They lived for the moments, receiving God's blessings with gratitude as they arrived, and not quick to cut memories short or move on from times of joy and celebration.   

I am certain that when our LORD walked this earth in human form, he valued the moment far more than the minute.

The Bible does not offer any specific teachings that warn against the dangers of becoming too rigid and attached to our strict schedules.  This is partly because they did not yet have the technology to create or adhere to minute by minute planning (think sundials, not electric clocks).  In fact, there is not a single mention of minutes or seconds in the entire Bible.

When times are mentioned, they usually correspond to days, or approximate times of the day, as they relate to correlating tasks or events.  For example, the sabbath was a day of the week for rest, people began festivals on certain days of certain months, and "the 11th hour" referred to the last part of a full day's work.  But it would have been impossible to record or plan even the hours with great precision.

The Gospels does tell of several examples where Jesus would be considered "late to the party" by modern American standards.  He and his disciples arrived so "late" at a wedding in Cana that they had already run out of wine.  Yet it was just in time for his first public miracle of turning the water into wine.  He arrived days "too late" to save his his friend Lazarus from death, and yet he was right on time to raise him from the dead.  Even as a youth he lingered at the Temple in Jerusalem after his parents began their journey back to Nazareth, citing and understanding that it was more important to be about his (heavenly) Father's business.

And still there were more times when he lingered far longer that what I in my own mind might consider fashionable, or even sensible.  He spent days on the mountainside teaching and preaching to a crowd, ultimately feeding their hungering bodies with physical food after filling their spirits with the bread of life.  He "slept in" on the boat, in no hurry to rebuke the wind and waves while his disciples fought for their lives.  And yet he woke up in time to end the storm with only a few words.  He sat on a mountain and prayed for so long that even his three closest friends began to fall asleep.  And their spirits shook to life as they witnessed Christ's transfiguration and revelation as the Son of God.

Can you imagine missing moments like these simply because they do not fit into our schedule, because we had planned something else in that place?  And yet I wonder how many glory moments I have missed, or brushed aside, simply because they did not fit into my preconceived notion of what should be happening right at that time.  

I still value punctuality, probably far too much.  I do not want to let people down by being late, and I desire to be a good steward of the time God has given me.  And yet I still desire the moments, the memories above my daily structure. 

Lord, please open my eyes to those timeless moments of eternity that you offer.  May I value your gifts over my plans, your timing over my schedule, your way over my will.  I want to receive and cherish every "God moment" that you would give me.