Pass the gluten, please.

Let’s face it—I am NOT gluten free.  I’m writing this toward the end of wheat harvest here in the Midwest.  A good friend who farms says their yield has (thankfully) been really good, something I’ve learned one cannot take for granted.  It’s seriously beautiful out in the country as I drive by the tawny fields of ripe grain.  And, of course, the days are long and hot right now for the harvesters, even with the high-tech air-conditioned tractors! 

My tummy and taste buds are so glad they do what they do.

Timing, I learn, is critical, and picking things before they are ripe is not a good thing.  Where I live, it’s easy to tell the diff between a tomato allowed to sun-ripen on the vine, or one that was raised in a hot house and picked early to prevent spoilage in transit to the store. 

Currently, I am watching and waiting for my blackberries to ripen—oh, man! They look sooOOO00oo good!  But try to eat one before its time—blah.

A friend of our church, Joni Ames, recently described a few concepts of Biblical time that I find an interesting and applicable connection here.

We live in Kronos time, obviously related to our word “chronology”, or moving from one fixed point in time to another.  Simply put, it’s our view of past, present, and future.  (Sci-fi enthusiasts, Bob included, love to mess with this one in their time travel stories.)  Kronos can also be seen as a type of currency, but once it’s “spent”, there’s no making any more.  Farmers know this intuitively, since if they don’t plant their wheat in the winter, there won’t be a harvest in the summer! 

Here’s an example:

“After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.”

Another one Joni mentioned was Kairos time, which is more of an important, opportune moment.  Queen Esther is a perfect example, being in a special place “for such a time as this”.  Thankfully, she had the courage to take it!

“For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Great story, that one.

Then there is God’s Fullness of time.  In a life of faith, I find this one challenging.  I want my prayers answered—NOW.  But God waits until there is the highest possibility for the best sustainable outcome.  Only He knows what is necessary for the maximum yield for His kingdom purposes.

Which is what it’s all about anyway.  (I have to remind myself of that.)

My farming friends plant their wheat, irrigate when necessary, protect from weeds and insects…and wait. 

Patiently. 

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son,…”

In other words, God has perfect timing.

It’s not about me, or even about the loved ones I’m praying for, not ultimately.  The bottom line is that this is all about God, we—our lives and very existence and eternity—are about Him.  Which means that in the Kronos of time (day-to-day chronological journey), I can watch for the Kairos moments (heavenly opportunities) and patiently wait for the Fullness of time, when all of my prayers and HIs changes produce the highest “yield of the field”. 

That’s bread I can sink my teeth into.

Acts 18:23 ; Esther 4:14; Galatians 4:4 The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.