OUT OF SYNC
I have a watch that I love. It’s nothing special at all. It’s not an heirloom or anything like that. It doesn’t have any special sentimental value. It is just a watch from Walmart. A trusty Timex. I really like it. There’s only one problem with this watch…it isn’t always trusty. For some reason I’ve yet to figure out, it will sometimes get just a little bit out of sync. It will end up being a few minutes too fast or a few minutes too slow. It may not seem like a lot, but being off just a little bit makes a big difference. So I have to constantly make sure the time on my watch is in sync with what it is supposed to be.
For 70 years, Spain has been in the “wrong” time zone. In 1940, while World War II was in full swing and Nazi Germany occupied Norway, Holland, Belgium, and France, Hitler paid a visit to Spain’s Fascist dictator, Francisco Franco. Hitler wanted to persuade the Spaniard to support the Nazis. But Spain, having been ravaged by its own Civil War in the late 1930s, did not have much to offer. So Franco stayed neutral, but switched Spain’s clocks ahead one hour, putting them in line with Nazi Germany. So ever since, Spain’s clocks are on the same time zone as countries as far east as Poland and Hungary, even though geographically, they are in line with Britain and Portugal. For seven decades, they have been out of sync. Over the course of those 70 years, the cultural has adjusted to the time shift, meaning that on average, Spaniards sleep 53 minutes less than other Europeans and work longer hours (but at lower productivity).
I wonder, if you were to ask a Spanish person on the street, would they know their time zone was out of sync? Or have they just gotten used to it?
It is entirely possible for us to live in such a way that we are out of sync with life. We are talking now about more than watches and time zones. God, the magnificent creator of the cosmos, has given us instruction and teaching that allows us to be in tune with him. Sometimes in the frantic day-to-day of our lives, we can slip out of sync with God, even just a little bit—much like my watch. Just a little bit makes all the difference in the world. Soon, before we realize it, something in our life just feels off. It’s not always a big explosion that gets us off course and out of sync. It’s the subtle, small choices we make that prioritize something over God.
I confess that I often find myself getting out of sync with God. I choose to sleep a little longer and don’t pray in the morning. Facebook or TV is more entertaining than my Bible. My own comfort takes precedence over serving the needs of others. Before I know it, I’m out of sync.
In those moments, much like I have to do with my watch, I have to reset myself. Or more accurately, I have to allow God to reset me. I go back to God in prayer, read his Word again, and sacrifice my comfort for others. And by God’s grace, he get’s me back in sync with Him.
—Brad