Alpha and Omega: The Experience of Time

Hey beautiful people! Welcome to another blog post here at Coffee Dates with Jesus. This blog post is a little different than my usual content, but I feel led to share with you what has been bothering me (in a good way). When Holy Spirit tries to tell me something, He keeps it in my face until I study and write it out. You know the drill: Holy Spirit has something to say, so grab your coffee, tea, or whatever drink suits your fancy, and let's sip on it.

Time: the indefinite continued process of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole

As we see in the definition given above, the Oxford Language does a beautiful job of telling us what time is. And as beautiful as that definition is, God does not even operate anywhere in it, but it is funny how we say, "... He's always on time." My question has always been this: "How can God operate OUTSIDE of time but is NEVER late?" I want to know the secret, lol. How does that work? Let's assess a few things first; then, we will see how that works.

Saying that God operates outside of time is another way of saying that He is not confined by the dimensions and physical laws that exist within the natural realm that we live in. Before time was, God is. Many of you are thinking, "where is the scripture to back it up?" Well, to be completely honest and respectful as possible, no scripture in the Bible plainly states, "God is outside of time." Still, if you read your Bible, you can see phrases like "In the beginning, before the foundation of the world, and Alpha and Omega." Those are phrases we call "time expressions."

We use these to refer to when something happened. Genesis 1:1 says, "in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." God operates outside of time, so why would the Bible say God created the heavens and the earth at 6:00 a.m.? But even though scripture implies this, let us see what it says. I like the way John puts it in Revelation (4:11 AMPC). He says, "Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for You created all things; by Your will they were [brought into being] and were created." All things mean everything, including time. Even the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 1:10 (ESV), "as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." we can see that this scripture is from a previous thought of telling what that plan is, but I only include this verse to make my point clear:

If He has a plan for the fullness of time, how can He be confined by it?

The answer is simple. He is not confined by it because He does not operate in it. That is why He doesn't move exactly when you want Him.

Let's take a look at time in Greek. The most common and known definition of time in the Greek language is "chronos," which means "chronological." Chronological means "in order; never veering off schedule." Then you have the lesser known definition, but it is still very essential to know. The second word for time is "kairos," which is often referred to as "deep time" or "the appointed time in the purpose of God." Deep time is the moment in life when we step outside of chronos and enter into kairos. Have you ever heard of the saying, "time flies when you're having fun?" Within the very moment of "fun" and the realization that time has flown by is when you have exited out of kairos and back into chronos. Being in kairos is described by Naomi Matlow, stating: "a state of flow is activated, and it cannot be measured but only experienced." That's why Mark 1:15 says, "Time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand....," or "The appointed time in the purpose of God is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand..." This was the beginning of Jesus' ministry, where He brought people into kairos (which He had operated in since birth). He said to others, "Hey, come follow Me and experience kairos with Me."

He may not come when you want Him (in chronos), but He's always on time (in kairos).

As we live our day-to-day in chronos time, God lives every moment in kairos, and when we spend time with Him, we can experience His timing. He's not someone or something you can "measure;" instead, He's someone whose attributes we continue to experience each day.

-Taleigh E. Reed, Coffee Dates with Jesus