Base Difference
September 1st, 20112 Peter 3: 9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
“So, what is your perspective on punctuality?” – my question from an job interviewer.
My response- “I have always felt that there is never a problem with being very early, that if you plan on being early, there will be no problem if you’re a little late for your plan.”
“This is how we look at punctuality: Early = On Time, On Time = Late, Late = Fired.”
Anyone who plans on keeping their job, gaining an education, maintaining healthy relationships and fulfilling a purpose will usually have a grasp on the importance of being on time and not making someone wait. As soon as that appointment time passes without your presence, there is a statement being made about your character, the importance you place on the meeting and the value of that one with whom you scheduled that meeting. Great expectation and judgment is built into our culture regarding timing, with very little hope of success where there is disregard for this.
Where it gets a little challenging, though, is when clocks get off, time zones are different, and the basis upon which the schedule is planned differs between those attending. For the one who understood the timing to be based upon their own system, the relationship and ability to make further plans can be severely threatened when the other person is using a completely different base. They may be totally correct in the ETA, but if they are not perceived to be punctual because of this misunderstanding, judgments are made and confidence in that person is compromised.
A couple of references
I spent a few months in Africa, just a little ways of the equator where the sun is very consistent in its rising and its falling. There is no need for daylight savings time there because the sun always rises at 6:00 in the morning and sets at 6:00 in the evening with very little variance between summer and winter. Because of this, their reference to the hours of the day, instead of starting with the middle of the day, started in the morning with “hour one”. To make an appointment with someone there for lunch would require an understanding of this in order to not show up either 6 hours ahead of time or 6 hours late.
There is another discrepancy in base understanding that I encountered in math, where the standard 10 base system that is commonly used can be altered by changing the base number upon which counting is established. Instead of starting over at one after counting to ten, for example, you can start over with any other less than ten, like 4 for example. In this system our normal number 8 would equal 20 because the base is completely different- totally correct, just based on a different standard.
When hearing of the promises that are ours and particularly the promise referred to here in the passage of the coming day of the Lord, there is an opportunity to be challenged in our relationship with the One who made the promise, if we get out our calendars and decide, based upon our own learned systems, just when and how He should fulfill His promise. As soon as there is doubt regarding His punctuality, the whole perception of His character, faithfulness and righteousness is brought into question and it is challenging to believe in Him at all. There is an opportunity, however, whenever our penciled-in time for Him to show happens to pass, for trust in Him and an embrace of His holiness and loving nature to displace our self-declared position of judgment over the Creator of time. Rather than letting our Daytimer determine our confidence in the Maker of the day and our ability to progress in our relationship with Him, faith in His goodness and His mercy can be strengthened when all frustration is put aside for some sweet casting of care in His loving embrace. His timing has a different base. It will never be wrong and His character will never be compromised because of a man-made calendar. Opportunity for relationship with the most influential and powerful being need not be damaged or frustrated by His differing time base. It’s so much better to just get on His in the light of eternity.
