where did all the daylight go?

Last night, my wife observed something subtle, yet something that effects everyone on the planet: the days are getting shorter. No, I'm not saying that time itself is decreasing, but if you take a moment to step outside this evening, you'll notice that the sun is beginning to set a bit earlier. Wow, what a revelation! It's nothing new, it's to be expected right? But we often forget this subtle change that takes place year after year, season after season until we're in the midst of the dark asking, "Where did all the daylight go?"

I've been feeling a bit like this lately. As a graduate student about to begin my fourth and final year, I pause wondering where all my time and energy has gone and how I am to have enough to embark on what will most likely be the most hectic year thus far: 15 hours of courses each semester, working a part-time job I really don't like, submitting resumes and interviewing for future jobs, loving my wife, keeping up with friends, and participating in ministry. Needless to say, I doubt too many posts will be seen on this incredibly awesome blog of mine...

But I must go on, I'm already 4 1/2 hours away from darkness and there must be something significant for me to accomplish. Ah, there it is. Did you catch it? Perhaps we struggle with the reality of losing time in the day because we have the perspective that it is I who must gain some sort of accomplishment, only to discover that that accomplishment was not enough to satisfy our craving for more and so we strive to accomplish more in the ever decreasing daylight, only to have more on the list to accomplish tomorrow (with one less minute of light). Perhaps if I grasped true significance, that is, being chosen by the Light Giver, the Creator of all things, the One True God, to have a part in the Grand Story, a part that offers endless significance, a part that calls me to a task that is never complete in my day because it is only He, the one who brings us significance in the Grand Story, Jesus Christ, that can complete His task on that Great Day of His Return. It's about coming to terms with, and being satisfied with the apostle Paul's great life lesson: "In my weakness He is strong." In the meantime, I get to play a part in the Grand Story today because He has given today to me, rather than me giving today its significance by what I have labeled as an accomplishment.