Here’s the problem: I’m mortal.
My energy is limited; my time is limited.
It’s maddening!
More than that, as I get older, it leads to regret and a little panic. Hindsight reveals a mound of sand lost forever in the hourglass of life. Even if I could reach in there to retrieve a handful, it would certainly slip quickly through my fingers!
What am I to do?! I spent decades in the wilderness without God, only recently (eleven years ago) saying “Yes!” to Christ. Was it all for naught? Was the first half of my life in vain? Am I now merely to “make do” with the time I have left? Am I irrelevant? Is it too late for me? Am I to be left behind with the stragglers?
I’m not saying I don’t deserve it. But, there is so much I want to do as a new man spun 180 degrees by the Grace of God! I am so thankful that He has invited me, as he does everyone, to assist in His Plan! I am also thankful that He has revealed to me my unique design, purpose and passion! Still, part of me fears that because I was tardy to my calling I will be left behind in this Great Evangelistic Journey.
And I just now got started!
That’s not to say that I haven’t already been given opportunities and tasks here and there, for which I am thankful! It’s just that, shouldn’t I be going back to school? Shouldn’t I shoot for that degree in Theology? A Masters in Apologetics? A PhD? Shouldn’t I be making up for lost time studying fiercely with every last ounce of my strength the writings of all the great Apologists in history, not to mention everything written by every contemporary Apologist alive on the Earth today? Where do I start? How do I strategically pick and choose what to read and in what order? With whom should I consult, to whom do I listen? What should I write; how should I write it? How do I use the time left to me in the wisest, most efficient way? WHAT should I do?!
I become overwhelmed. Then I see the sand in the bottom of the hourglass and my heart sinks further. That time I have lost could have been used to get me closer to those goals. Now it’s too late. I don’t know how much sand is left, but I know that even if I HAD enough time and energy left for the most modest of these goals, by the time they were achieved the sand would be woefully low, and what time was left would be gone almost as soon as I began.
Then I stop and ask myself: “Was God caught by surprise with my conversion?”
Of course not! Then that means I was part of His Plan from the beginning, BEFORE the beginning of time! The sand in the hourglass is exactly where it’s supposed to be! My conversion occurred in time exactly on time! Everything that came before, everything that I did or was done to me or occurred in my lifetime and before my lifetime brought me to that point in time with absolute precision!
Do I have objective, observational evidence for this? I DO! Let me show you!
Psalm 19:1 states “The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.” The Science of Physics is the study of His handiwork, therefore it’s not surprising that Physicists and Astronomers continually make discoveries that point to an Intelligent Creator: God! One of the most stunning discoveries so far is The Anthropic Cosmological Principle, which describes the Fine Tuning of the universe.
Physicist Stephen Hawking wrote “If the rate of expansion one second after the Big Bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it ever reached its present size.”
This is but ONE of several fundamental physical properties, or constants, requiring exact values not just for life to exist, but for there to even be a universe to contain that life! Among these constants is the gravitational constant, the strong nuclear force, the mass of the proton and the charge of the electron. The chance of these achieving their current settings or values by accident is estimated at one chance in ten to the power of 229!
The beginning of the universe nor its continued expansion was or is by accident! Nor was my birth or yours, nor the expansion of time that brought us to this or any other point in time! Take solace! Everything is happening as planned and for a reason. A GOOD reason!
As for my curriculum and syllabus, mentors, coaches and advisers? Who can fine tune it more precisely than God?
I’ll leave it up to Him!
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
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