Tripping Over Typeset

We welcomed a new addition to our home this year.  One that sometimes wakes me up at night and keeps me on my toes during the day.

It’s not a child, puppy or anything alive but it does mark my days.

In my growing up years, my great grandfather’s mantel clock sat in my parent’s house.  Back then it didn’t work.  The key for winding was lost years before and the mechanisms inside were dirty and in need of repair. The clock served only as a decorating piece and represented a time gone by.

Fifteen years ago, when my mother passed away, the clock was passed to me.

So after all these years, my hubby surprised me by getting it cleaned and refurbished.

(For a real blubber story I could tell you of the evening when this refurbished clock returned to my house in its updated state. The poor gentlemen who did the work didn’t know what to do with this bawling mess of a woman.)

And why did it fill me with such emotion? One could say it’s just a clock. But to me it’s more than that.

It marks the time of another generation.

Another generation heard these chimes. Another generation marked their time by its rhythmic swing. When I wind the clock and reset the hands, my mind travels to past days when someone from another time wound the clock and reset the hands.

This instrument marked the time of a generation that is now gone.  A generation that endured days of hardship, experienced hurt and loss and faced questions of “Is what I’m doing enough?” “Am I enough?”

I would like to think that what I face now no one has faced before but that simply isn’t true. Struggles take on new forms and play out in different ways but the basics of life are the same. Each generation faces:

• Financial stress
• Health issues
• Relationship struggles
• Significance and purpose-driven questions

And when I hear the clock chime, I think of other days and other people…

• What conversations played out in their home?
• Who heard these chimes and the soft ticks of the pendulum?
• Which holidays, birthdays and remembered moments did this clock mark off time?
• Who else heard these chimes and struggled with the same questions of “How am I going to make it through?” “What does this all mean?” “Where am I going and what is next?”

Uncertainty in life is a certainty of life. 

There are times when each generation struggles and has to make their way with questions sometimes still unanswered.

Our faith in the One who guides our way is sometimes silent in the moments that tick by.

Yet His silence isn’t a sign of His absence. 

We wait what seems like an endless hour.  We wonder if the time of His faithful days have stopped. But the clock still chimes. His constant presence and awareness of our times and days are not wasted in the waiting. We can grow irritated at the unknown and question His ability to hear and answer our questions and concerns.

Yet I hold onto the ticking of time and belief that He was faithful before, He will be faithful now. He worked with those in the past. He grew them through their questions, situations and struggles. He brought them through their time with His faithful, steady hand.

Isaiah 41:8-13 ~ I took you from the ends of the earth, from its farthest corners I called you… I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you…. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand…

I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, “Do not fear; I will help you.”

The clock’s chimes that toll through my home remind me that He is constant, He is faithful — not only to a previous generation but to mine as well.

In each moment of each marked day, hour and minute, He is present.

Today you may be facing questions of a similar sort.

• Is He aware of what is happening here?
• Is He aware of me?
• Does He know what I’m feeling, facing and struggling with?

And the answer to all of the above is YES!

He is present in all our days. He is not absent or absent-minded.

He is actively working even when we are unaware.

One gift of time passing is knowing that what is now will not always be. Where we feel unsure, we will again find our footing and stand firm.

Past events and generations tell the story of God’s faithfulness working through time.

The ticking of time reminds us of His moment by moment working in our lives.

And in these moments, our own stories are forming. They are playing out for the next generation to see the faithfulness of God.

Generation after generation stands in awe of Your work; each one tells stories of Your mighty acts. ~Psalm 145:4

So let me encourage you, friend,

In your struggle and in this day, you are not alone. He sees you and is present with you. He is working through time to bring about good in your life.

Hold on to the faithfulness of God!

You are loved,

Rachel