What Time Is It?
Our granddaughter, Healey Mathison, spent two months in the summer of 2024 doing an internship for marketing for some sports groups in England. She also had a great interest in observing the work of the church there. It was a great experience.
I always had to think about the time whenever I would call her. There are different time zones in different parts of the world. The first time I called her was late in the afternoon. I needed to ask her an important question. The trouble was that it was 3:00 am in England and she was sound asleep. I had to apologize and think better about the time.
When I was training pastors in Bill Bright’s Billion Soul mission, I went to some places in Europe, India, and South America. Sometimes the toughest thing was adjusting to the new time zones. I enjoyed going to Ecuador, Brazil, and Argentina because I could get a direct flight from Atlanta and the time change was usually very minimal.
I recently did an interview with an Atlanta area radio station about our leadership ministry. The person was so nice setting it up to be sure to explain that he was talking about Eastern time and not Central time. I was fascinated when he referred to our time in Alabama as “God’s time.” I agree with him. That radio station will soon begin carrying our 58-second daily podcast message (Eastern time)!
The most important time zone is God’s time zone. His timetable is the important one. Time is no problem for Him—He created time and He’s in charge of it.
Even the days of the month are different in some parts of the world. Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populated country, but its calendar is seven years and eight months “behind” our calendars in the Western world. The birth year of Jesus in Ethiopia is recognized as seven or eight years later than the Gregorian or “Western” calendar, which was adopted in 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII introduced it. The Roman church adjusted its calendar in 500 A.D., but the Ethiopia Orthodox Church decided to stick with the ancient dates. Ethiopia has kept its own timetable.
This is part of their strong sense of culture. As one leader in Ethiopia said, “We have our own calendar. We have our own alphabet. We have our own cultural traditions.” The Ethiopian calendar was developed following a solar-lunar system that is thirteen months long. Twelve of those months lasts for thirty days and the final month lasts for just five days, or six days during leap year.
You can imagine the confusion this causes when you ask what year a person was born in, or you have to get a birth certificate or a passport or an official document.
While Ethiopia might have a calendar that differs from our calendar by a few years, the most important calendar is God’s calendar. He never gets confused about His timing. He is always an on-time God.
If you are going to different parts of the world, you will encounter different time zones and different calendars. If you are wholeheartedly committed to God through His Son, Jesus Christ, you will operate on God’s time—literally. He is in charge and His timetable is always accurate and true.
Set your clock and your calendar by God’s time!
