For Ladies: A Prisoned Bird Set Free
Clista Heintzman
Do you ever feel bound by time? Have you ever felt imprisoned by your schedule? Women are so busy these days. We are a society that is “chained to the clock.” We rush from one meeting to the next, all the while checking our watches to be sure one appointment has not overlapped the other. We have scheduled work, groceries to buy, doctor appointments, and hair appointments to keep. We have ball games to attend and kids to pick up and chauffeur. When the errands are complete, there are laundry to do, dinner to prepare, dishes to wash, and animals to feed. Our minutes are booked weeks in advance, as is evidenced by our “overworked” calendars. Because we live in this kind of lifestyle, we are frequently stressed and frustrated.
Did you know that you can “overbook” your life to the point of becoming a slave to time? When we constantly “run against the clock,” we miss out on opportunities to serve God—time to study and pray, time to sit and listen to people who have problems or who have questions about God’s word, time to worship, and time to fellowship.
I can remember a day when I needed to get some things at the store. I decided to stop quickly along the way and say hello to some people I had not seen for a while. I had a limited amount of time because I needed to be home to pick up my kids after school. I stopped to see my friends, but the quick visit I envisioned began to vanish. At first, as we talked, my mind wondered about the time (that ball and chain). I kept thinking, “What time is it?” “How much time do I have?” Finally, I submitted to the fact that the conversation and visit with my friends was most important and decided the shopping could be done another time. I cannot explain the peace and release that came over me when I “let go” of time. My friends and I spoke of spiritual matters and spent meaningful moments together.
Mrs. C.H. Morris wrote a song called, “Sweet Will of God” that is found in some hymn books. In that song, Mrs. Morris wrote, “... all discords hushed – my peace a river, my soul a prisoned bird – set free.” As my friends and I spoke of God’s will, I felt free from this world and the pressure time held over me. I felt like the bird, soaring high, catching the wind under its wings.
We all have schedules to keep. The world would be unbearably disorganized if no one paid attention to time. Sometimes, though, we need to look at our schedules and cross out some of the things that seem so important and make some time for the things that really are important so that some of God’s will can be accomplished through us, his daughters. (2 Corinthians 6:18) Paul says in Colossians 3:2-3, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Instead of being “caught up” in the things of this life, let us become “lost” in the things that matter for eternal life. “Sweet will of God, still fold me closer, Till I am wholly lost in Thee.” (“Sweet Will of God,” Mrs. C.H. Morris, copyright 1959 by Ellis Crum in Sacred Selections for the Church.) -3049 Tyler Hwy, Sistersville, WV 26175.