“What Time House Close?” – Step 3 Trust in God

Several years ago we had an exchange student from Japan, Koichi, stay with us for week. While he was here he asked lots and lots of questions which I attempted to answer. There was a definite language barrier. There is one question he asked that I will never forget. It had been a crazy busy day of attending to the needs of my husband and five children, our home school, housework, homework, my calling to the Young Women, and the exchange student. It was growing late. I was weary. Koichi watched as I finished one of many conversations I had on the phone that evening and put the last dish into the dishwasher. As I hung up the phone he asked me a question that still makes me laugh and gives me pause when I remember it. He asked, “What time house close?”

One of my great temptations is to squeeze absolutely everything I can out of the day, until late in the day, and still go to bed unsatisfied. It’s a problem! I think it’s actually a sin.

We have been promised that the scriptures contain answers to our problems. As I have studied with this problem in mind I have been taught some things that are helping me. I want to share two references with you.

First, one day I was reading the first chapters of the Old Testament in the Book of Genesis. The seven simple words that spoke to my soul were these, “and God saw that it was good.” Every day for five days He looked at what had been accomplished and called it good and on the last day of creation He looked over the divine project and “saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31)

I took note. God never came to the end of one day of creation wishing He had accomplished two. As day five came to a close, the day He created the great whales and all the birds of the sky, He was at perfect peace about waiting until tomorrow, day six, to create man. His daily work was done in wisdom and in order and at the end of the day God looked over His work and “saw that it was good.” This speaks to my insatiable appetite for doing more than should belong in a single day.

In Psalms 118:24 I found a verse that touched me in regard to my dissatisfaction at the end of the day. It reads, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalms 118:24). My days are under the watchful eye, the loving orchestration, and the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ. How can I be dissatisfied over the little daily trifles of life?

“What Time House Close?” I want to learn to quit at the end of the day, well before the today threatens to become tomorrow, and while I still have energy to “rejoice and be glad in it.” And then I want to look over the day with an optimistic grateful eye, trusting that this is the day the Lord has made. Tomorrow will come soon enough, and if I trust God it too will be full of creation just perfect for another day.

By Nannette W.
Posted Friday January 30, 2009

Copyright 2008 by Nannette W.
All rights reserved. Making or sending copies is permitted if the page is not changed in any way and the material is not used for profit. This notice must be included on each copy made or sent.