THE BEGINNING OF TIME
How Time Was Created: A Story of Light, Purpose, and Divine Order
Before anything began—before the first breath of wind, before the oceans roared, and before the sun blazed in the sky—there was only God. No ticking clock, no morning or night, no yesterday or tomorrow. Just eternity wrapped in the infinite presence of the Almighty.
The Bible opens not with a whisper, but with a declaration: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1). That one line tells us something powerful—it signals the origin of everything we know, including time. The phrase “in the beginning” itself suggests that a point in time began to tick. But before that beginning, time did not exist. There was only God.
As a Lagos-based writer who wakes to the hum of danfos and the call of traders on the street, I often marvel at the structure of our daily lives. Time rules everything. We wake by it, eat by it, hustle by it. But have we ever stopped to ask—who created this time? Where did it come from?
Genesis 1 continues: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” It was at this moment that time as we know it began to function. God saw the light and declared it good. Then He separated the light from the darkness. The light He called Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and morning—the first day.
Think about that. The first “day” didn’t begin until God introduced light. It was this separation of light and darkness that set time in motion. So we can boldly say: time was born out of light, not darkness.
In Lagos, people are always in a rush. You hear it everywhere—“Time waits for no man.” But is that truly the whole story? We forget too easily: man did not create time. Man doesn’t control time. We are simply passengers within its flow. Yet we act as if we are its masters.
Some avoid church, complaining: “Your service is too long. It wastes my time.” But isn’t it ironic? Time, which we treat as our god, was itself created by the true God. We owe Him our moments. Still, we fail to give Him minutes in worship or reflection, even though He’s the reason time exists in the first place.
Let me remind you: the Bible says in Daniel 2:21, “He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings.” God has the authority to shift, stretch, pause, or reverse time. He is not bound by it—He made it.
Here’s the amazing truth: when you align yourself with God, you gain access to His timing. You can ask time to pause, just as great men in the Bible did. Consider Joshua. In the midst of battle, he needed more daylight to finish the fight. And what did he do? He prayed. And the Bible tells us the sun stood still (Joshua 10:13). In other words, time waited for a man—because that man walked in God’s purpose.
Think of Elijah, who declared there would be no rain for three and a half years—and there wasn’t. Think of Job, who lost everything—his family, wealth, health—but in God’s time, he was restored. The Bible says his latter days were greater than the beginning. Why? Because God, the Master of time, rewarded his faith.
What does this tell us?
It tells us that time is not random. Time is not a machine you cannot control. It’s a divine structure, released by God to give life order and purpose. It is a gift—something designed for us to manage with God, not apart from Him.
Sadly, many people live as if time is an enemy. In Lagos, we try to “beat time.” We race against it, stress over it, and sometimes manipulate it. We try to “buy time” in situations of pressure, stretching deadlines and making excuses. But why scramble when you can walk hand in hand with the Creator of time?
When God created time, He didn’t create chaos. He created rhythm—day and night, evening and morning. Time is a servant of His order.
Listen carefully: if you walk with God, time becomes your friend. You can ask God to stretch your opportunities, to pause the rushing pace of your struggles, or to bring acceleration to delayed breakthroughs.
Time came into being when God called light out of Himself. And everything that comes out of God carries a piece of divinity—it becomes purposeful. That means time is not just a clock. Time is a spiritual entity, meant to help us fulfill purpose. It responds to divine alignment.
So don’t be alarmed when life gets chaotic and people use time against you. Some in the world know how to manipulate situations to delay justice or shift outcomes. But the children of God? We have something better—we have the right to pray and shift time by the Spirit. We can ask God to redeem lost time, to restore wasted years, to give us divine speed.
Time did not originate from darkness—it came from light. And light came from God. Therefore, time is under divine instruction.
Let this sink in: fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man (Ecclesiastes 12:13). When you do, you walk with the One who controls time. You are not rushed, not delayed, not forgotten. You are walking in season. And if God decides to pause the sun for your sake—He will.
As I walk these Lagos streets, I don’t just see busy people—I see divine potential caught in the race of time. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to run blindly. You can walk purposefully with the God of time.
So today, remember: time was created for you—not the other way around. Walk with God, and time will walk with
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