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Dealing with pressure of time
“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. Therefore, keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back – whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!” – Mark 13:32-37.
BE WISE
“One of the scarcest commodities is time. Christians seem just as afflicted by the time squeeze as anyone. Finding time for Bible study, church attendance, service, and other activities stretches their faith and patience. Is that the way God intends for us to live? Are we at the mercy of our generation’s hectic pace, or has the Lord provided instruction in His Word that can help us use and invest our time wisely? The Apostle Paul exhorts believers in his letter to the Ephesians church regarding the proper use of their hours, days and weeks: “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is – Eph. 5:15-17.
Paul serves notice in this passage that people fall into one of two categories – those who invest their time wisely and those who spend their time foolishly. As we think about our lives, what are we living for? If we knew that we had only six months to live, how would we spend our time? Would there be a difference compared to how we presently manage our various duties and opportunities?
TOMORROW MAY NEVER COME
Many of us fall into the trap of planning for the future while wasting the present. We talk about what we will do and how we will spend our years once we retire. But none of us knows the span of our existence: Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth – Prov. 27:1.
Since we do not know the future, we must concern ourselves with how to invest the time we have been given now. But no matter how we define it or how often we are reminded of its importance there never seems to be enough time to accomplish all we desire. The modern conveniences that were supposed to liberate us have failed. Even what leisure time we have is scheduled around the competing activities of children and parents, all vying for our attention. So the years go by and we sigh: Time passes quickly, doesn’t it? Although time is a space in the eternal heart and mind of God, we finite beings feel the pressure of living in the dimension of time.
ETERNITY IS CERTAIN
The stress and anxiety that comes from living in a time-conscious world even affect our health. Our nation has one of the world’s highest rates of high blood pressure. Ulcers, heart disease, and strokes can often be linked to our fast-paced lifestyles. We even try to cram God into our time box. We talk about worship on a particular day of the week, and on that day we limit our worship to an hour or so. We cannot confine the Lord in such a manner because He sees all time against the backdrop of eternity which has been described in this way: “If a bird came once a year and carried away one grain of sand at a time and kept returning until all the grains of sand in the world were removed, then eternity would have just begun” That idea staggers our thinking. Our finite minds can only dream of eternity, and even then, we see a dim shadow of the glory of everlasting life.
But as Christians we are a people of eternity. We live in this space called time with the gift of eternal life indwelling our beings. We have an eternal inheritance. We possess the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. His life will never end and cannot be dated by a clock or a calendar. I can perhaps understand an unbeliever wasting his time with drinking or drugs or working day and night to achieve more fame, more money, and more power. I can understand that because they are not sons and daughters of the Eternal One.
TIME CAN BE ADEQUATE
Christians, however, can know – despite the pressures we place on ourselves – that there is always enough time to do the will of God: So then do not be foolish, but understand what will of the Lord is – Eph. 5:17. God will make sure we have adequate time to achieve what He desires. He never requires or asks more of us in a given day than He has planned to do through us. That does not mean we will accomplish all we feel we should do.
As long as we are living in a right relationship to Christ and walking sensitively to His leadership, He enables us to achieve all that He expects. From the moment we wake up in the morning, God has already provided all the necessary time to do His will. He guides and governs our day, our opportunities, our chores, and our relationships in such a way that His plans are accomplished. Proper planning, can help us to fulfill His will. So many of us simply react to the turns of the day. While the unexpected can always be expected to happen, the one who prayerfully and carefully plans can depend for guidance upon the Lord to whom nothing is unexpected.
Dr Joyce Aryee
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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