I don’t know if you’re like me, but I track time like it’s my profession. Sometimes I wonder if my watch will one day tell me how many times I’ve checked it. It’s not just checking the time—it’s needing to know it, control it, measure it.
How long will the commute take—with traffic, without traffic, depending on the time of day? How long is the meeting? When should I eat—and how long will eating take? If I go to the gym, how much time will I actually have to work out?
My mind gets caught in this web, constantly measuring, calculating, forecasting. Living in minutes instead of moments.
And don’t even get me started on travel or big events—weddings, trips, important dates. They get stamped into my mind, and I find myself living them over and over before they even happen. Mentally rehearsing time that hasn’t arrived yet.
It’s become so natural, it feels like breathing. I don’t even realize I’m doing it—I’m just… tracking time.
Now if you’ve read some of my devotionals, you probably already know where this is going. Even with this piece, there’s a good chance you subconsciously judged whether it was worth your time before reading it. That’s how deep this runs. We measure everything by time—even what we’re willing to receive.
But here’s the thing… time is something we made up.
At some point, someone decided to take the endless flow of life and divide it into pieces—hours, minutes, seconds. And while that structure helps us function, it also traps us if we’re not careful. It pulls us out of the present and into constant anticipation or reflection.
I’ve been trying to step back from that—not in a careless way, not ignoring responsibilities—but in a more grounded way. A more present way.
When I’m in traffic, I don’t want to be late—I want to be there. When I’m at the gym, I don’t want to rush—I want to experience it. When I’m with people, I don’t want to measure the time—I want to be with them.
Because the truth is, life isn’t happening in the next hour or the last one.
It’s happening right now.
And maybe peace isn’t found in managing time better… maybe it’s found in loosening our grip on it altogether.
“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” — Matthew 6:34
“Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10
“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” — Psalm 118:24
Prayer
Lord, Help me release my grip on time and return to the present moment with You. Quiet the noise in my mind that constantly looks ahead or behind, and teach me to rest in where I am right now. Remind me that You are not found in my rushing or my worrying, but in stillness. Let me trust that today is enough, because You are here in it.
