Time is relative. I once read something written on the value of time, for example: If you want to know the value of one month, ask a mother who has given birth to a premature baby. If you want to know the value of one hour, ask the lovers who are waiting to meet. If you want to know the value of a minute, ask the man who just missed his train. If you want to know the value of a millisecond, ask the athlete who just missed the record.
I can’t remember everything, but every phrase gave a new meaning of a different value of time.
In ICU the days are long and time seems to stand still. It is never dark and feels like one very long day that never ends. Normally I feel like time flies and I want to set my watch to go slower, but not when you have a pipe down your throat, breathing on your behalf, waiting for the one hour two times a day your family can visit.
In my 19 day visit in ICU my bed was facing a round clock on the other side of the ward. I spent so much time watching the clock, but I could only read the time if I squint my eyes or put my glasses on.
In the mornings I checked the clock and waited for the doctor to do rounds, and then I waited for the physiotherapist. The afternoon was spent again waiting for the physiotherapist. If she came too late in the afternoon she might not be finished when the family arrived to visit me. Thinking back to that time, a lot of time was spent just waiting…
One of those days I was watching the clock, counting the hours when a song came into my head. I couldn’t remember the whole song but only one line of the verse… one day at a time, Jesus. I closed my eyes and asked the Lord “I can’t go one day at a time, can we rather take it hour by hour?”
From there on I became a little less obsessed with the time, because the Lord reminded me to take one thing at a time, step by step.
We don’t always see the big picture or know when something bad will end, but we know we can take one day at a time with Jesus, or even hour by hour if things really are at their worst for us. He will never leave us, and is the only One to give us peace as we go through life’s struggles.
Did you ever hope that the time would go a little bit faster for something to be over sooner? What did you do to pass the time?
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This post reminded me of the time my son spent in NICU, can totally relate!
It must have been terrible to see your son in NICU. Thank you for stopping by.
Time becomes even more relative when we consider it from a Kingdom perspective. To God, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. When we wait, it feels like eons… but in light of eternity, it’s in the blink of an eye. This post is a great reminder that we are not in control. Our moments are His. I’ve never had a situation like yours in ICU, but God IS growing my patience and endurance through different kinds of waits. I’m thankful He is sovereign and that we’re held in the palm of His hand. 🙂
If we could just remember to look at time (and everything) from a Kingdom perspective. Thank you for stopping by and leaving this comment, Cathy.
There are many times I have been left waiting for answers, waiting for more instructions, or waiting for bad days to past. And what I’ve learned in the waiting is the strength it takes to truly labor to rest in God. Romans 8:25 says while we wait for the hope we do not see let us wait with patience and composure. So that is what I hold on to. Love waiting hour by hour sometimes that’s all we can do. Great post thank you for sharing.
Thank you for your beautiful comment Timberley. I agree that it takes strength to rest in God while we wait.
The song you quote in this post is beautiful. Often times when I’m waiting for time to pass, it’s because I’m waiting for something I cannot affect or change and I just want to get it over with. I find distracting myself by doing something productive usually helps.
Doing something productive is a good thing to do while you wait. Thank you for stopping by! 🙂