Time waits for no man. No matter what you do, it keeps on ticking away. In fact, you and I both are closer to death than we were whenever you started reading this post. And now you are closer than you were then. Our lives are stamped with an unknown expiration date, and though we don’t know when that date it, we can be sure that it is looming ever closer.

For centuries, this reality has been the enemy of the Christian and the non-Christian alike. Just take a look around and you’ll see the war being waged against time everywhere from the office of the plastic surgeon to the parents who silently weep over the childhood pictures of their kids who seem to be growing up far too fast to the office worker who daily turns around and wonders where the day went and how they can possibly complete the list of tasks on their to-do list.

Tick tock; tick tock. Time keeps on slipping away, and it will continue to do so no matter how hard we fight.

But for the Christian, time doesn’t have to be the opponent; in fact, time is actually a powerful ally. This realignment of thinking happens when we begin to consider the long road of discipleship. And it is indeed a long road.

For anyone who has seriously looked deep into the recesses of their heart, they will know that some disturbing things lie there. Deceit, greed, doubt, fear – all of these things still lurk inside those who are following Jesus. And because they do, we might be tempted to despair. Why, we might ask ourselves, do we still struggle with temptation? Why are we still so selfish? Why do we still feel the need to justify ourselves day in and day out to those around us? Why, especially if we have been made alive with Christ? It might seem, in these moments, that we should be passed these things by now.

But we are not. And because we are not, we recognize that though we might have come a mighty long way with Jesus, there is still far to go. Much sin to be uprooted; many false beliefs to be confronted. This is the point when we can cease to see time as our opponent and start to see it as our powerful ally.

We can do so because God is not in a hurry.

The process of discipleship is a long one; it’s slow and methodical rather than instantaneous. It’s a lifetime’s worth of taking a step forward only to realize that step was made purely by the grace of God and thank God it was, for there are many, many steps to go.

It’s in this moment when you look at that clock, that old opponent, and realize that on this road, it’s your friend. Time is a tool in the hand of God to bring us, slowly, step by step, to the people He wants us to be.