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God’s Timing
Discerning the Seasons
by Tom Brown
 The person deeply in tuned to the Lord knows God’s
timing. He understands that often the secret to success is in
doing the right thing at the right time. Timing can be
everything.
An inventor may come out with a product that grabs the market,
while another equally talented inventor can produce a product
that is better than the other one, yet fail. Why? All because of
timing.
A business can open prematurely and result in bankruptcy,
while another business can flourish all because of timing.
An author can write a book that makes the bestseller list,
while another book which is better written can collect dust on
the shelves because it came out too early or too late. Timing can
make or break a good idea.
As wise Solomon wrote, "He has made everything beautiful
in its time" (Ecc 3:11).
The thing that made David’s kingdom the greatest dynasty
in Israel’s history was because David’s military
leaders "understood the times and knew what Israel should
do" (1 Chron 12:32).
King Xerxes understood this principle. Although he was
deficient in moral character he knew to surround himself
"with the wise men who understood the times" (Esther
1:13). This kept him in power for life.
Procrastination
For some people never is the right time. They never
seem to do anything because they procrastinate. They never are
ready to get married, or go to school, or take a job, or even go
to church. They are do-nothings. Their problem is
procrastination.
And why do some people procrastinate? People procrastinate
because they don’t realize that they don’t have forever
to accomplish what they need to accomplish.
Remember this: you don’t have forever to accomplish what
you need to accomplish in this life. Moses, who was once a great
procrastinator, wrote, "Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Ps 90:12). Once Moses
knew that his time on earth was limited he finally got under way
to accomplish his purpose, even if at the age of 80.
Are you a procrastinator? Learn to number your days, and
realize that your life will "quickly pass" (Ps 90:10).
This should get you moving.
Any Time is Not Always Right
On the other side of the spectrum are those who think that
anytime is the right time. Jesus said of His unspiritual
brothers, "For you any time is right" (John 7:6). Jesus
was very aware of God’s right time. He said to his brothers,
"The right time for me has not yet come." And to his
mother, He said, "My time has not yet come."
God is aware of the importance of acting in the right time.
The Bible says, "when the time had fully come, God sent his
Son" (Gal 4:4). God did not send Jesus too early or too
late. Just at the right time.
Maybe at this point you have realized that you missed
God’s time. Perhaps your marriage ended because you married
too early. Or you’re poor because you started school too
late. Or perhaps you simply feel frustrated because your whole
life is out of sync.
Good News! The Bible says that you can "redeem the
time" (Ep 5:16 KJV). Redeem means to repurchase. God will
let you buy back some time. As God said through the prophet Joel,
"I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten"
(Joel 2:25).
So if you have blown your opportunities and missed your time
of success, you can repent and buy back some time from God. God
will put you back in the race and rewind the clock and let you
start over again.
God’s Time is not Mysterious
Many sincere believers are afraid to act, fearing that they
may act in God’s wrong time. They assume that it is
impossible to know God’s timing. To them, God’s ways
are mysterious—beyond finding out. This is not true.
God has made it easy for us to understand His timing. He made
it simple to discover His time by giving us the seasons of life.
You must understand that everything has seasons.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every
activity under heaven: (Ecc 3:1)
You see, to know the time for everything you need to
understand that every activity has a season.
Seasons are God’s clue to timing.
God’s Timing in your life can be discerned by determining
what season you’re in, and when you find out the season
you’re in, you can act accordingly.
For example, if it’s winter and cold outside, then it is
time for you to wear a coat. You don’t have to pray real
hard to figure out if you should wear a coat. Simply look
outdoors and you’ll know what to do.
The same is true of life. In order to know what to do, simply
find out what season it is in your life, and then act
appropriately.
The key to success is acting relevantly to your circumstances.
Simply waiting around for your ship to come in will never bring
you success. Don’t wait for success? Success is who you are
and what you do every day of your life.
Seasons of Life
The problem with many people is that they don’t know what
to do.
Listen, it is easy to know what to do. Just as there are four
seasons of nature, there are four seasons of life. Each
season corresponds to a particular action that you need to take.
For example, there is a time to plant and a time to reap. How do
you know if it’s time to reap? You know it’s time when
the harvest is ripe. The same is true of your life.
The four seasons of life are: Winter, Spring, Summer, and
Fall. Each of these seasons demands a particular action on your
part.
During the Winter you need to dream and plan. In Spring you
need to plant. For Summer you must water and cultivate. And
during Fall you finally reap and distribute.
Many Compartments
So to find out God’s time you simply need to ask
yourself, "What season am I in?" Now understand that
your life has many kinds of fruit. Right now you are cultivating
your spiritual life, ministry, relationships, career, education,
money, and health all simultaneously. Each of these compartments
may be in a different season.
For example, your spiritual life may be in the Fall season
while your health may be in the Winter season. This means that
you are experiencing spiritual refreshing while you’re
unhealthy in body. What do you do then? Spiritually you reap the
wonderful Spirit-filled life and share it with others, while
physically you must dream and plan about becoming healthy.
Life in not simply reaping. I know everyone wants to reap, but
there can be no reaping unless there is planting. And no one
would plant if there was no Spring time.
Do you realize how important it is for us to have four
seasons? Every great civilization that is known for its human
advancement and achievements have enjoyed four distinct seasons
because of its climate and their relationship to the equator. The
great civilizations of Europe, Asia, and North America have
enjoyed four seasons.
What do the seasons have to do with their success? In Europe
and Asia people were forced into their homes or shelter during
the cold winter season. But there they had the opportunity to
dream, plan, and envision the new year.
Yet in Central Africa, Australia, and Northern South America
the climate is almost always hot and summer-like. As a result,
these peoples never had the opportunity to be locked up in their
homes to do nothing but dream. They were always outside enjoying
the sunshine but never had the opportunity to accomplish anything
great, because they never were forced to dream.
Time to Dream
You may be in a time in your life when everything seems dead
and lifeless—like Winter. But, you see, this is a time for
you to dream. And dream big. This is not wasted time.
Oh, yes, it seems nicer to live in a warm climate where there
are no seasons to life, but in a paradise like that there is no
opportunity to dream and plan. In this life God meant for us to
experience all four seasons. Yes, the Winter seems to be the most
dreary, but, oh, how it is needed.
I feel like there are people reading this article who are very
discouraged over life.
One of those persons may be you. Life seems cold and dark. You
seem to be locked up in your own private closet with nothing to
do. But friend, there is much to do. Dream.
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