The world is not about deadlines, it's about shaping hearts

​Some days I forget, God doesn't own a watch. This is a God who has been here forever and will be around forever, so he doesn't count birthdays. He doesn't panic at the end of the day when his to-do list isn't done, because for him, tomorrow has to feel very much like today or yesterday.

I think about the struggles I encounter in my life, and how time is often at the root of them. Whether it's a project running up against the burden of a deadline or a heartache that feels like it won't last one more day or a birthday that makes me feel too close to comfort to my final birthday - time always feels like a stressor.

I read that Bob Goff devotional this morning and I pictured myself in prayer, my head bowed and I'm silently praying to God, all the while tapping my watch and making sure God knows these prayers have deadlines.

God, I don't know about everyone else, but this is important!

And then I pictured God on the other end of that prayer. I pictured him listening, but no signs of stress on him. He was simply sitting at a table drawing pictures of a heart. I think it was my heart.

In the bible, in Matthew, Jesus is talking about the end of our time here on earth. And he says, “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only."

I wonder, does no one know because God wants this to be his big secret. Or does no one know because that's just not what God wants us to focus on.

You know, I always say, the one thing college made me great at was procrastinating. If there's anyone out there who can procrastinate better than me, I want to see it. College was full of these high pressure deadlines, and I mastered how to live stress free right up until the moment a giant flood of stress triggered me to get done what needed done. Without a second to spare.

What if God is saying, I'm not giving you the deadline because the work I need done is more important than a college essay. What if God is saying I'm not giving you a deadline because what I'm trying to accomplish here is more important than your project or your broken heart or how old you are starting to feel.

What if God is trying to tell us this world is all about shaping hearts. God shaping mine and me shaping yours. What if God is saying I'm not giving you the timeline on that work because I can't have you all feeling like heart-shaping can afford even a minute of procrastination. Not because God is tired of drawing hearts, but because God is tired of seeing so many people do without love.