God and Time Part 1

Ive been thinking about this subject for quite a while and I realized I needed to start writing these things down, so maybe one day I'll get all these thoughts together in one place.

I've been thinking about the way we all perceive time and just how it affects our lives.

Let me put it this way.

We see time as constantly moving. Tomorrow never comes because its always tomorrow. It will never be the future, we are not in the past. Its always in the present. Always moving.

Its like we are stuck here, unmoving in this time... but somehow still moving.

When we as humans look at time we see it like this

0--------0--------0

past present and future

We see events on a time line. And it makes sense. Its the only way we can perceive time because we are stuck smack dab in the middle. In the Present.

But, the omnipresence of God doesn't just mean He's at all places at all times. It also means all TIMES at all times.

Keeping in mind how we see time, we can try to grasp the way God must see time.

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He wasnt just there at the beginning. He was there BEFORE the beginning. He isnt just here in the present, stuck with us... he's also in the Future, after the end.

All at once.

He can step back from the timeline and see the whole picture. Like the expression "Hindsight is 20/20" God doesn't need hindsight, because he can see everything that HAS and WILL happen!

I believe too that He sees time like this as well:

Since we have free will, things can always change. God has to be able to SEE what choices we will make, what the possible outcome is, and shift things. Could you imagine? He's not only seeing what IS and what WAS but what COULD BE and what WILL BE!

The concept is staggering.

I know its hard to grasp... I confess I don't understand it all. But the point is, God sees the whole picture. We cant possibly know the way things will turn out. But for GOD, he's in ALL times and ALL places moving events into a bigger plan.

Theres no way we as finite humans could grasp His plan. Thats why we need to have Faith in Him.

I was talking to someone who wondered why their life was messed up at the moment. I told them its all for a reason. Nothing can happen beyond the Eye and Hand of God.

And the greatest thing is, we still have free will to choose for ourselves, but God sees all possible outcomes.