“Short-time! Short-time!” is what we yelled at my son, Dallas, when his wrestling match was winding down and he was behind on points. I remember yelling this and then watching him duck under his opponent’s left arm, take him down, and win the match.
These days (in my 70’s and retirement), I look in the mirror and say, “Short-time!” Sometimes in prayer, I more gently say, “Short-time” when I ask God to use me. I feel an urgency to end my match with some stunning move that will glorify God and bring people to Jesus.
In a submission wrestling match in Portland, my son Dallas nearly pulled off a flying arm bar. His opponent had cut a lot of weight and was quite a bit bigger than Dallas, so he was strong enough to shake Dallas off. But he almost had it. I would like to have Dallas’s courage to go for broke, but I have no idea of what that might look like. I am thinking about a series of books called The Order of the Wild Rose about a gravedigger and gardener who fights vampires with wild roses and garlic from his garden. I dug graves with Homer for a while in high school. He had one of the best gardens in town because of the excellent topsoil he brought home after refilling graves. I have never written fiction or published anything, but who knows? That would be wild, right?
There are two, maybe three, sides to urgency. Out of urgency it is easy to do stuff just to be doing stuff—while completely deaf to what God may be saying or doing. And sometimes under the pressure to do something, we overlook the thing right in front of us. Today I danced clumsily to a worship song. Teckla laughed. In God’s economy making Teckla laugh today was probably the most important thing I could do—certainly more important than writing this blog. Urgency can lead us astray.
On the other hand, urgency can mean we have no time for grudges, bitterness, or unforgiveness. Let it go! Maybe our match winning move—our spectacular take-down– should be forgiveness and reconciliation. Life is too short for hate. Or perhaps we need to be sharing our hope of glory—Jesus Christ–with friends. Or maybe we are watching our kids grow up, and we realize we only have a few more years to help them become steadfast in God’s love and our love.
Last, we must remember nothing is impossible with God. One simple act of obedience may turn a life and a heart toward God and that person may go on to impact thousands of people. The public ministry of Jesus was only three years, so short time is no problem for God. All God needs is our obedience. We should be urgent only about what makes God urgent. The answer to “Short-time” is always “God’s time!”
