“Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’
Into the future” — The Steve Miller Band
I’m writing this on my birthday, and I’m another year closer to the end than the beginning. That’s not meant to be morbid, or depressing, but it definitely hits different from when it was mere theory two or three decades ago.
Now, it’s just a fact, but if I heed the wisdom of the ancient prophet, it can also be a reminder that what is limited often becomes a valuable commodity, and what is valuable needs to be protected fiercely and stewarded wisely.
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalms 90:12, emphasis mine)
In her book, anonymous, Alicia Britt Chole writes about the iceberg equation that reflects the physical nature of icebergs:
“10% visible + 90% unseen = an indestructible life” (p. 6)
Her math, along with her connection of it to the private and public life of Jesus, who spent over 90% of His life in hidden preparation, prompted me to search Google. My search for the average lifespan in America prompted me to open my calculator app, and here are the results.
The average American male lives to be 73.5 years old, which means 66.15 years of that life would be the hidden part of the iceberg.
My first thought after reading that wasn’t, “I better get busy!” Rather, it was, “I’ve still got some more time to get ready!”
Granted, time does seem more precious and fleeting in my fifth decade than it did in my second, but when we understand that God uses the secret, unseen, and mostly ordinary parts of our lives as training ground, it motivates us to value the insignificant.
It’s not like we sit around and do nothing for 90% of our lives, or that God sets us on the shelf, only to pull us out when He needs us. No, God is always at work, in every season and area of our lives, as a potter who is turning the lump into a masterpiece.
That means that how I choose to be present on a “normal” day goes a long way toward developing the character I’ll need for the 7.35 years of my life that God might choose to make things more public.
The iceberg equation doesn’t lessen the importance of the unseen; it heightens it. In fact, any other proportion of seen to unseen wouldn’t keep the iceberg afloat. Might I suggest the same for you and me? Too many people have melted in the spotlight of public ministry because they were trying to stay afloat without the necessary foundation. It is actually the grace of God to keep us hidden until He knows that we’re ready.
Is it easy to wait? Not even remotely, especially as more sand slips through the hourglass. But knowing our time is limited increases the value of the time we have left, as well as the value of what is being developed in each one of us.
The Artist is at work, and He will never rush the time it takes to prepare the masterpiece for the reveal.
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