“He changes times and seasons … ” … “See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me.”
(Daniel 2:21; SOS 2:11-13)
Saving The Day
Certain countries of the world engage in a time management strategy called “Daylight Savings.” In the United States, its goal is to uniformly change operational hours so they align with the brightest period of the day, thereby optimizing productivity in each season of the year. The regions which observe this practice typically do so in the spring and fall seasons just before their respective equinoxes (a recent bill proposed by the U.S. Congress to perpetuate this practice such that the biannual time change is terminated has not yet been enacted), as the time changes typically align with the change in seasons.
In the pacific northwestern region of the U.S., spring sprang in the last couple of weeks despite its official commencement about a month ago. Prior to that, we endured a long, wet, cold and unfriendly winter/early spring, as have many other cities across the globe. Geneva, Switzerland, has had an unseasonably cold and wet kick-off to its spring season as well, experiencing snowfall as recently as three weeks ago. In a recent visit, I enjoyed the first snow-capped view of the spectacular Jura mountains, the Alps being the typical show-stoppers in the area in that regard.
Time Travel Pre-invented
This Daylight Savings productivity-optimizing strategy is not new or unique to man; God utilizes it in all His business affairs, for example, He employed it to ensure ancient Israel’s victory over five Amorite kingdoms under General Joshua’s leadership. Attuned to the fact that the intensity of the battle would be fiercest after dark and that his army’s winning advantage was best before sundown when morale, physical energy & visibility would still be high, Joshua commanded the sun and the moon to stand still. Both celestial objects complied immediately, remaining immobile till the fight was over, victory was sealed, and they were (presumably) released to resume their respective orbits. We see the same time-dominant concept displayed when God graced king Ahaz with observing an impossible feat (i.e. turning time backwards) for the simple purpose of assuring that He (God) would do what He said He would in assuring a victorious battle.
Purely by intellectual (versus miraculous) genius, the countries who observe this practice are onto something in adapting this incredible concept. They execute to a small scale what God does in large measures. When spring ushers in its daylight savings season, there is a temporal “leap” in time as the season changes. Typically occurring at 2 a.m. on the set day of the season, the sixtieth second concluding the 1:59 a.m. oscillatory cycle on every time-telling device shoots forward to become 3 a.m., entirely bypassing the 2 a.m. mark. Everyone is enjoined to “spring forward,” i.e., to adjust their minds, schedules and any analog time-pieces they own to align with the new time. While this results in the loss of an hour of sleep on the set day of the spring time change, it allows for longer working (i.e. sunbathed) days, greater productivity, and in chronically sun-deprived areas – better moods and temperaments! “Fascinating” does not begin to capture this mind-stretching concept …
God’s Lean, Mean, Time-Restoring Machine
Apart from His cosmically-applied physical and spiritual time-tinkering ways, God has other methods by which He freezes or recaptures lost time and opportunities. One is by the fine art of restoration, and the other is by the celestial science of supernatural speed. Both utilize the compression of time to achieve superlative results in the lives they affect and often work concurrently. The following are a few examples of either or both of these mechanisms in action, and the named methodologies by which they were executed.
The “Outrun the Chariots of Evil” transcendence demonstration (1 Kings 18:44-46)
The “Restoring the Years the Devourers Destroyed” compensation plan (Joel 2:19-27 )
The “Double for Trouble” remuneration package (Isaiah 61:7; Job 42:10-17)
The “More Than The Married Mother” method (Isaiah 54; 49:17-21)
The “Babysitting Kings & Queens” repatriation rule (Isaiah 49:22-23; 60:16)
The “Last Shall Be the First” law (Matthew 20:16a; 1 Corinthians 15:8-10)
The “Prisoner to Prime Minister” principle (Psalms 75:6-7; 113:7-9; 105:17-22; Genesis 41:1-45)
The “Beauty for Ashes” remediation rights (Joshua 2:1; Ruth 1; Isaiah 61:3; Ruth 4:10-22; Matthew 1:5)
The “Pursue, Overtake, Recover All & Plunder the Enemy” reparation policy {a.k.a. “Mess with Me, I’ll Mess With You So Badly You’ll Never Try It Again”} (1 Samuel 30:8; 2 Chronicles 20:25-27)
The “Vomit Out All You’ve Ever Stolen” restitution headlock (Job 20:15; Jeremiah 51:44)
These are but a few demonstrations of God’s retribution/restitution/restoration/pay-back system where any and EVERYTHING can be restored to anyone who has put their faith in Jesus and has a personal walk with Him. Such a person can experience the restoration of lost time, resources, opportunities, relationships and even loved ones (while the latter won’t cross the great divide to re-enter this earth realm, there is a spiritual method of dividends that can turn their lives into a seed which germinates into great gains {see John 12:24}. This means than even events as serious as death can substantially catalyze new forms of life, growth, strength, revolution and tremendous reformation. This form of restoration, if capitalized upon, can make a loved one’s passing a worthy cause, and will strike the enemy below the belt where it hurts the most).
Between A Rock And A Hard Place
No matter how much you have lost, God can cause you to recover all. Have you lost precious time, your family, job, business, a loved one? Have you made grave mistakes that resulted in great losses and you feel like it is over for you? Are you stuck in a hard place, with an army pursuing from behind, obstacles and enemy fortresses on either side, and an impasse ahead? When faced with similar circumstances, God told the Israelites through Moses, “Go forward!” He told David when his army was robbed of their families and possessions, “Pursue, overtake, and recover all!” He told Joshua after he had lost his beloved and greatly revered mentor and was charged to fill his shoes and take over new territory, “Rise up and go over …. , Have I not commanded you, be strong and very courageous, do not be afraid or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”1
In my version of modern day “speaks,” this translates to “Spring Forward!”
And here is where we get into semantics – what does the term “spring” mean? While the same word is used to connote several things, the applicable dictionary definition is a verb meaning “to move or jump suddenly or rapidly upward or forward.” In my words – “to bolt or dash forward and upward with confidence and “pep” in your step (imagine the energy in your steps if the soles of your shoes were sprayed with hot, powdered pepper …!). So springing forward connotes a rapid, purposeful, energetic, confident forward- leaping motion that is marked by attitude, determination and a bit of quiet “pizazz”. It is NOT a saunter, a walk or a sprint, it is a predetermined forward motion that catapults a person from the backside of where they were to the forefront of where they should be – as determined by their needs, deeds, stage of life, destiny & divinity.
Friend, are you caught in the middle of a vicious army and a raging Red Sea of impossibility, stuck between a rock and a hard place, or just plain stuck? Do you find yourself repeating the same cycles of failure, frustration, negative results, delayed blessings, unaccomplished dreams? Does it seem like you have been going round the same mountainous obstacles over and over again, and cannot find your way? Have you lost your sense of destiny and purpose, constantly sinking in the quagmire of circumstantial gravity, drowning under the weight of your sorrows, disappointments and failures? Or are you about to transition into new levels of possibilities and responsibilities, and are feeling a tad bit overwhelmed by the seemingly invincible giants in the land? I encourage you first and foremost to “Fix (your) eyes on God; soon (you’ll) be praising {Him} again. He puts a smile on (your) face.2” I love this injunction because it goes right along with another we’ve examined repeatedly; “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in.” 3 This reference gives us more insight on how to do accomplish this practically. “Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – He could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now He’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” 4
Spring Forward … by Falling Backward …
So, how do we practicalize this concept of springing forward? We fall backward … onto “Our Refuge and Strength, our Ever-Present Help in Trouble.”5 For the believer in Jesus, every problem and situation can be resolved by receiving a “now” Word from God (i.e., a battle strategy on how to address each unique challenge and situation). All of the previously mentioned instructions to Joshua, Moses, David, etc. were battle strategies specific to each of them in those particular seasons and circumstances. To experience similar victories and experience deliverance from situational or diabolical setbacks, stagnation, and defeat (potential or otherwise), we must do the same for our unique seasons and situations (I encourage you to review the “Know Retreats, Know Surrender” series previously posted on this platform to discover in more detail succinct and practical ways to do this). Remember that God has a great plan and destiny for your life6-7 and a pre-fabricated system of time and destiny recovery that can restore everything you’ve lost and then some, as well as supernaturally advance you from where you are to where you should be – and then some; placing you light-years ahead. “So shore up your mind, roll up your sleeves and get your head in the game, being totally ready to receive the gift (of restored time, valuables and destiny) that’s coming when Jesus steps in.”8
So with confidence in your heart, pep in your step, and a restored sense of vision, purpose, destiny and resolution, do what God always instructs in similar situations; take the necessary steps and … SPRING FORWARD!
Bibliography
- Joshua 10:1-15
- Psalms 42:11
- Hebrews 12:2a
- Hebrews 12:2b-3
- Psalms 46:1-7
- Jeremiah 29:11
- Ephesians 2:10
- 1 Peter 1:13