TL;DR

You will either spend your time and watch it dissolve into nothingness, or invest it and see it blossom into eternity. How you steward your hours will determine the depth, richness, and substance of your life here and now. You can strive to master life on your own terms, or surrender to the friendship Jesus offers—on His.

Panic or peace—the choice is yours.

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INTRODUCTION

There is a subtle myth many believers live by: I don’t have enough time to spend with God. Yet the truth is far more sobering—you don’t have time to waste chasing a life that only grace can give. You will spend your time somehow, but only one path leads to what your soul truly seeks. That is what Jesus offers—a way out of the grind and into divine rhythm of spiritual reliance on the grace (power) of God.

I speak in the first person because time has become my witness—and my mirror. I once heard the phrase: “Everybody has the same amount of time—24 hours, 1440 minutes, 86,400 seconds…” And yet, some flourish richly in their appointed hours while others languish in regret. What is the difference?

“Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the LORD our God has given us, we will possess.” —Judges 11:24

Some things you will not be able to give yourself, no matter how hard you try—you will need a “friend”—a divine helper—to help you with that. In this essay I explore, with spiritual depth rooted in Christian faith, how time is not merely a resource but a relational field. I’ll weave together biblical insight, Greek and Hebrew word-studies, commentary from spiritual teachers, and an earnest invitation: a turning away from the treadmill of “self-salvation” to the rest of grace.

Grace is not earned, it is freely given, but what is given must be received before it can help you. WHere will you go to get the grace you so desperately need to help you in your time of need?

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” —Hebrews 4:16

Figuring this one thing out will revolutionise your life

THE ILLUSION OF “NO TIME”

We repeat with devotion the statement “I don’t have time” as though it is the unassailable truth of our condition. It becomes a mantra, a self-fulfilling prophecy. But let us stand for a moment at the threshold of reality: every human being is allotted the same currency of time in a day; the difference is not temporal-quantity but relational-quality. And we always spend it where we think it will benefit us most.

Yes, socio-economic background, innate ability, cultural heritage—all these shape our vantage point. But beneath all of them lies the fundamental reality: what we do with the time we’ve been given. We may respond:

“But I don’t have the same breaks, the same resources, the same head-start.”

Perhaps. But the mystery we must face is that even the favoured often squander time; and even the disadvantaged, by grace, can redeem it.

If you remember one thing, remember this: At the foot of the cross the ground is even.

Thus the myth: “I don’t have time” is not simply a fact but a self-deluding trap—one of our enemy’s great lies.

THE TRAP OF SELF-SALVATION

The systems of the world loudly trumpet:

“If you don’t do it, no one else will.”
“Take care of number one.”
“No one is coming to save you.”
“You’ve got to hustle.”
“Make every minute count.” (Add more…)

This sentiment dresses itself in ambition, grit, and even responsibility, and in many ways it masquerades as virtue. But the trap is that it assumes there is no God who came to save, no Saviour who intervenes, no loving heavenly Father that cares deeply, no grace that undergirds our hours.

It all rests on the premise that you must be the architect of your own deliverance.

Hence the booming self-help and life‐coaching industries—they thrive on this assumption. They whisper: Your time is everything. You must invest it. Multiply it. Optimize it. And often we acquiesce, believing that if we don’t hustle, life passes us by.

But the gospel flips the script. The world’s underlying lie is that you are abandoned to your devices—whereas the Christian truth is that you are redeemed, commanded to rest, commissioned to abide.

Let us be blunt: one may believe in God, yet not live as though God believed in you. One may say “I believe”, yet in daily practice one acts as though only self‐drive will deliver. And until we confront that contradiction, the myth of “no time” for spiritual practice, prayer, abiding, Bible study, rules us.

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

At the heart of it lies this proclamation: “the power of God saves all who believe.”

This is not a side‐note—it is the heartbeat of the New Covenant. Yet so many Christians labour as though this had never been uttered. They apply education, career, relationships, experiences—hoping to save themselves. And where does it leave them? Empty. Unrested. Unsaved, because they don’t know what being saved means, much less what they’ve been saved from and into.

SOZO AND SOTERIA

Let us pause for a moment to examine the Greek. The word σῴζω (sozo) means: “to save, deliver, protect, make whole, preserve life, be safe.” It carries the fullness of wholeness, not simply removal of penalty. By contrast σωτηρία (soteria) means “deliverance, rescue, safety, salvation.”Taken together, “salvation” encompasses the complete rescue and preservation of the human condition in every facet and dimension of life. In essence, it signifies a state where nothing is missing and nothing is broken.

Because we read the Bible in our native tongue rather than its original languages, we often miss the richness and depth of words like “salvation” and “save,” and fail to grasp the fullness of their original meaning. Consider the following verses:

“And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved [sozo] you; go in peace.” —Luke 7:50

“And Jesus said to him, Go your way; your faith has made you whole [sozo]. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.” —Mark 10:52

Sozo is the active experience of being made whole and as you can see, it applies to both men and women.

Thus when we say “I am saved”, we must not imagine it as a mere ticket to heaven, or an endless striving to fix ourselves. We must recognise: there is a finished work, a finished salvation in Christ, and our task is to rest in it—not to keep labouring to achieve what is already done.

Importantly, this salvation is not attained through self-effort, nor by adding our striving to what Christ has already accomplished. It is received by faith—a humble acceptance of the redemption He has purchased on our behalf.

So then, how does such faith reveal itself in our lives?

REST AS A STRATEGY OF TIME & FAITH

Here we arrive at the pivot: your time is your coin—how will you spend it? Two pathways lie before you:

• You may apply your time in ceaseless labour, striving to save yourself, anxious that if you stop, you’ll fall behind.
• Or you may entrust your time within the sphere of Christ—abiding, resting, confident that the One who saved you also sustains you.

In short, the way we spend our time depends on what we believe will save us.

The author of Hebrews writes:

“There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.” —Hebrews 4:9-10

“Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest…” —Hebrews 4:11

This “rest” is not inactivity, though it may include that; it is demonstrating trust through the spiritual practice of abiding, yielding, tarrying in prayer. It is the wise use of time inspired by faith—rather than anxious management of every minute by self-will.

One writer captures it:

“The promise remains of entering God’s rest, and we can enter into that rest by faith. Unbelief will make us fall short of the rest God has for us.” —Terry Storch

Thus the crux: God works for those who wait on Him (Isaiah 64:4). When we surrender our frantic misuse of time, when we stop the myth that our worth is measured by our output, then we begin to dwell in the rhythm of the finished work of the Cross, the one declared: “It is finished.”

“IT IS FINISHED”—AND YOUR TIME

Picture this: The Saviour declares “Τετέλεσται” (Tetelestai)—the debt is paid, the work is complete, the transaction is settled. Yet the world says: “Keep working. Keep proving. Keep producing.” Which narrative will you live by?

You may say: “But I still have to work. I have responsibilities. I have goals.” True. Labour is part of our calling. Yet there is a difference between labour out of fear and striving and labour out of rest and purposeful surrender. If Christ has finished the foundational work, then your labour flows out of that foundation rather than attempting to build it. Besides, God can accomplish more in one moment than you can accomplish your entire life, so, do you really want to go it alone?

Rest does not mean idle. It means secure. It means your time is no longer hostage to anxiety. It means you abide in the Vine, and your hours bear fruit—not because you force them, but because your roots draw from the life of the Sower. Your labour becomes guided with divine wisdom and empowered with divine assistance.

GOSEN AND NAGASH: STAY CLOSE

Let me draw a metaphor from the Old Testament: When Joseph revealed himself to his brothers in Egypt, he said:

“You shall dwell in the land of Goshen; you and your children and your children’s children may herd flocks in the land, and you will be near to me.” —Genesis 45:10

Here is a picture: proximity to the provision. The land of Goshen is the land of favour, the land of rest, the land where time is not squandered but stewarded under the gaze of the Provider. “Nagash” (נָגַשׂ) in Hebrew means to approach, to draw near. When you draw near to Christ, you are brought into the “Goshen” of His presence. The text continues,

“And there will I nourish thee; for yet there are five years of famine; lest thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast, come to poverty.” —Genesis 45:11

Compare this with 1 Timothy 6:17,

“Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.“

When we rely on the spirit of man, everything eventually breaks down. Zechariah reminds us, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord of hosts (Zech. 4:6). True fruitfulness begins the moment we stop striving to build in our own strength and start abiding in His.

Resting in God reverses the great error of self-reliance. It is not passivity—it is participation in grace. It is the quiet yielding of one who finally understands that divine strength begins where human effort ends.

The good news has already come to us—just as it did to them—but it profits only those who mix it with faith (Heb. 4:2). Faith does not hustle; faith rests. It believes that God is both willing and able to act on our behalf.

So instead of giving our time to anxious striving, we give it back to the Lord—as we promised we would—offering our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1), that He might live and work through us.

This is the sacred exchange: our effort for His ease, our striving for His Spirit, our weariness for His rest.

And when we finally lay down our self-sufficiency, we discover what it means to truly live—carried by the breath of God.

Thus the call: Stay close. Stay near. Your time then becomes under the umbrella of His dominion, not your own self-salvation. All work and no play makes Jack, or Jill, dull person.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TWO USES OF TIME

Let us draw out the contrast in table form for clarity:

Use of Time	Motivation	Outcome
Striving to save myself (self-salvation track).	Fear, anxiety, self-worth linked to output.	Exhaustion, emptiness, unfinished work.
Resting in Christ (grace-empowered track).	Faith, confidence in His finished work.	Fruitfulness, peace, time redeemed.

When we labour as though nothing has been done, our hours become a “debt we can never pay.” When we abide in the finished work—the tetelestai—of Christ, our hours become an offering—time spent in the vineyard under His command, not in the treadmill of self-justification.

SPIRITUAL TEACHERS SPEAK

I want to draw in some voices of spiritual wisdom:

• The writer of Hebrews exhorts: “Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall through the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:11). Unbelief and self-effort can bar you from the rest God has for you (cf. Psalm 106:24-26).
• On the meaning of sozo: “Saved (sozo) … has the basic meaning of rescuing one from great peril. Additional nuances include to protect, keep alive, preserve life, deliver, heal, be made whole.” This forces us to recognise that salvation is not just future, nor just penalty removal—but whole-life restoration.
• On rest and purpose: “Because we weren’t made to work all of the time; we were made for purposeful rest.” The notion that rest is idle does not honour the biblical rhythm: Sabbath, ceasing from our own working, trusting in His. Rest then is a statement of faith (cf. Psalm 127:1-2).

We might observe that spirituality in Christian formation is not merely about doing more, but about being transformed from within, so that our doing flows from our being. The great philosopher-teacher Dallas Willard (1935–2013) insisted that spiritual formation is first about a transformation of identity, not merely activity.

Hence the myth of “no time” collapses when we shift from “What must I do?” to “Who am I in Him?.” Thus, we move from performance driven by a beggar’s mentality to action flowing from the confidence of an heir—no longer striving for acceptance, but living from inheritance.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR OUR 24 HOURS?

Let us bring it from concept to lived reality. If you accept the gospel—the “good news”— of rest, then your time transforms in three practical ways:

1. Prioritising relationship over performance.
   Instead of measuring worth by output, you root worth in presence: your presence before God. The coinage of time is given back to the Lord. You meet Him, abide with Him—then everything else flows.
2. Working from rest rather than towards rest.
   Rather than labouring until you earn rest, you rest now and let your labour flow out of it. When the foundation of your day is “I am with Him,” your tasks become fruit rather than frenzy.
3. Intentional margin and trusting margin.
   Accept that not every minute must be optimised. Some hours are for abiding, listening, waiting. Trust that God is working—even in what looks like inactivity. His timetable is not your enemy; it is your ally when you submit to His rhythm.

In doing so, your time becomes not something you must manufacture but something you steward—under Lordship, not under compulsion.

A WARNING AGAINST MISUSE

Let us not romanticise rest as laziness. That is still self-centred. The writer of Hebrews warns: unbelief, hardened heart, disobedience will exclude one from God’s rest. So the rest I speak of is faithful active rest as a spiritual practice—rest that springs from recognising the finished work of Christ, not rest that springs from self-pity or indolence.

Moreover, the world’s hustle is not neutral—it is often spiritual entropy. When time is spent in worry, anxiety, chasing recognition, pleasing others, you are on the treadmill. You may be “busy”, but you are not “alive”. The gospel invites you to be alive now, in the finished work, and let your busyness give way to fruitfulness

IT’S NOT WHAT BUT WHO YOU KNOW

The world tells us, “It’s not what you know, but who you know” that matters. This phrase echoes through boardrooms, business schools, and motivational seminars alike. Success, we’re told, depends not merely on skill or intellect, but on access—on proximity to those who open doors, endorse your name, or grant you a seat at the table (cf. Psalm 23:5, 2 Samuel 9:7).

In the secular world, networking has become a kind of gospel in itself, a creed of connection built on self-promotion and strategic alliances. People trade authenticity for opportunity, forming relationships not from love but from leverage.

Yet beneath that worldly wisdom lies a divine irony: the saying is, in fact, true—but not in the way the world imagines. It’s not what you know, but who you know that determines your destiny. And the greatest “Who” you could ever know is God Himself.

To be in relationship with the Creator of heaven and earth—the One who holds all wisdom, power, and provision—is to have access to the ultimate network. When you walk in fellowship with Him, you are connected to the Source from which all good things flow. Every divine connection, every opportunity, every open door finds its origin in Him.

This is what Jephthah recognised.

As Scripture declares, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” (Psalm 23:1) In knowing Him, not just about Him, lack loses its grip. In trusting Him, favour finds you. The believer’s confidence is not in the social web of human influence but in the invisible network of divine grace, which can reposition you in a moment.

God does not despise your earthly connections, but He will not have them replace your reliance upon Him. His favour can open doors no résumé can unlock, and His word can elevate you beyond the reach of worldly networks. The psalmist writes,

“Promotion comes neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south; but God is the judge: he puts down one and sets up another.” —Psalm 75:6–7

So, yes—it’s not what you know, but who you know. And when Who you know is the Lord of all wisdom and wealth, the rest becomes a matter of timing, not striving. True success, therefore, is not found in networking with the powerful but in abiding with the Almighty.

CONCLUSION

You are going to spend your 24 hours one way or another. The question is—whose report will you believe (cf. Isaiah 53:1)?

Will you labour under the tyranny of “I must prove myself,” “I must save myself,” “There’s no time to rest”? Or will you abide in the One who has saved you and thereby redeem your time?

In Christ you have been made a new creation, you have entered rest, you have been invited to draw near and dwell in the land of Goshen where He will richly give you everything to enjoy! Approach Him. Lay your time at His feet. Let your minutes become moments of intimacy rather than items to be ticked.

And if you still carry the myth—“I don’t have time”—hear again the good news: you do have time. God has given you time. He has given you this day, this hour, this breath. What you do with it reveals your story—are you hiding or abiding? Are you striving or trusting?

Saying we have no time is simply saying we are running on fumes, mistaking motion for meaning. The world glorifies busyness, but Heaven invites you to rest. “There remains, therefore, a rest for the people of God.” (Hebrews 4:9) Not the rest of inactivity, but the rest of trust—of leaning into the faithfulness of a God who works while you wait.

Imagine, for a moment, what your life would look like if that were true for you. If you ceased striving to make things happen, and instead began to abide—believing that the same God who spoke light into being can also order your days, align your steps, and redeem your time.

For from the beginning, this has always been His way:

“From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.” —Isaiah 64:4

So pause. Breathe. Lay down the illusion that everything depends on you. Step out of the tyranny of urgency, and into the rhythm of grace. Time itself bends for those who walk with God, for He is not limited by it—He is Lord over it.

Enter the rest. He’s been waiting for you there.

DEVOTIONAL PRAYER

Father God,
I thank You that in You I have been saved—so zo—wholly, completely, not by my performance but by Your finished work in Christ. Thank You that I am invited not to a relentless treadmill, but to a restful abiding. Help me to sit in Your presence, to draw near, to dwell in Your land of favour. Redeem my hours. Teach me to steward my time as Your coin, not my burden. May I labour from rest, not for rest. May I abide in You, and let my life bear fruit that lasts. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

1. When I say “I don’t have time”, what underlying belief about self and worth is driving it?
2. How does the meaning of sozo (to save, deliver, make whole) change my perspective on what I’m saved into, not just from?
3. In what ways am I working for rest (rest as goal) rather than working from rest (rest as foundation)?
4. What might it look like for me to draw nearer to Christ—my “Goshen”—and thereby steward my hours under His provision rather than my effort?
5. How will I practice intentional margin this coming week: fewer tasks, more abiding? More presence, less performance?