This past year, I found myself saying things like, “I can’t wait to get out of 2020,” “I’m looking forward to 2021; it has to be better than this,” and “A new year will bring new beginnings.” I even considered purchasing a 2021 day planner in the middle of 2020, but they weren’t available.
I guess you could say I was looking to escape 2020, move on to bigger and better things and resume some type of normalcy. Just like everyone else, I had more time at home, fewer meetings and less interaction with others.
During my involuntary pause in 2020, I had the opportunity to spend a lot more time with God. I had more time to reflect and to seek his face, his perfect will and his direction for my life.
So, was 2020 a bad thing — or a good opportunity for personal growth? I’m not referring to growth like the “COVID 15” — gaining 15 pounds during the pandemic. I’m referring to gaining valuable wisdom by spending uninterrupted time alone with God.
In an article I wrote in 2020 titled “Divine Reset,” I stated that a reset takes us back to the original intent or meaning of something. What if God simply was resetting our priorities — the way we conduct business, ministry and government — in 2020?
Without a divine reset, we enter the next season doing things as we have always done them. Just maybe, His goal was to slow down our pace of life so we acknowledge that our time, our energy, our possessions and all that we are come from and belong to him.
As we have entered 2021, I understand to a greater level the importance of time. I believe the lessons we have learned are valuable and life-changing. I understand that God is not bound by our human timelines, our day planners or our apple watches. He created time and days for us so we don’t become overwhelmed; he carefully put time into bite-size pieces for our benefit.
God doesn’t need our human schedule to accomplish his divine purposes. 2 Peter 3:8 says, “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years.”
Our time is in His hands.
Robin Killeen is founder of W.O.W. (Women of Wisdom). W.O.W. meets every second Wednesday of the month at noon at the Knight Nonprofit Center in Gulfport.
