Seasons and Timing
I felt joy as I stared out of my window last week, watching the snowflakes fall. I felt happy. The winter is hands-down my favorite season. It is cold, dark, and in its way, a time to re-evaluate (mostly because you can’t do much outside anyway and you have to stay indoors). I began to think about different seasons of life and how we handle them.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV)
There is time for everything, time to plant or work hard, time to harvest or reap the rewards, time to face rough winds, time to speed up because the winds are in your sails, time to be single, time to marry.
As I considered this more, I realized that if we don’t understand the season we are in, we could miss the purpose of that season. Once we miss the purpose, we might focus on unnecessary activities for that season. This miss could go ahead to affect other seasons. A classic example is that a farmer that chills out during the planting season will certainly stay awake due to hunger in the harvest.
It is sad to see someone doing activities out of its proper season. This misplacement of priorities will hurt them and other people around them. For example, a married man trying to live as if he is single will cause a lot of pain for many people.
Sometimes, certain seasons can be challenging, and you wonder, what is wrong? Is the universe against me? Is God even interested in me anymore? I can assure you that He is. But the tough seasons have a purpose too. Often, they prepare us for future seasons. We build the strength of character when the going gets tough, and we keep going. Just ask anyone who has succeeded at anything. Also, I have experienced especially tough seasons before seasons of success and joy. Whenever I reflect on those seasons, I realize that the tough seasons helped me manage the success in the next season without getting carried away.
So the question is: What season are you? Do you know the purpose of the current season you are? Are you doing what you need to be doing in this season?
Further, no matter how tough any season is, we can always find reasons to be grateful. Gratefulness will take our focus from the season itself and help us see the great things happening silently. Daniel Daudu wrote in his article — The Problem With Good how people rarely talk about good things happening but tend to focus on the not-so-good. I recommend that article.
Finally, enjoy the season, be grateful, and prepare for the next season by taking appropriate actions necessary for this season because it will surely end in a bit. You can welcome the next season because you know you did all you could do with the chance you had.
