Discerning the Season

Timing in our layman's eyes are very different to those of God's. A thousand years to God is like a year to us, while a year is like a thousand years to God - in short, God is Timeless. This is clearly stated in the 'End days' article by J. David Hoke, which he based it on 1 Peter. In all God's mercy and grace, He has given us insurmountable undeserving blessings that sometimes our laymen's hearts still end up grumbling and demanding with impatience of wanting more in life in wanting more or less time based on our selfish needs.

Yes, there's a season for everything. The discernment of season for things around us incorporates God's divine wisdom - His Timing that is according to His Will for us. For the rebellious, such 'control / discipline' in submitting to God is unheard of. It's sad that the realisation only comes in after many painful trials that corners them to a tiny spot. Though there are moments where they do succeed, but by suffering and going through a longer route to where and what that is good for them at the right time and place.

What we gain through impatience means that we are running with the flood of dissipation (wastefulness). 'The flood' here is defined as us following a worldly crowd which is acceptable by the world, but not in a Godly manner. You can read more about this in the link 'Serving God in the Last Days' (1 Peter 4), in which I will point to again in a later paragraph of this blog.

God's timing is administered with love, and basically, it's a timing given to us when we are 'ready' to receive, give or to participate. A readiness that is of maturity of understanding, wisdom of acceptance, and not forgetting, a well-thought kind response for solving whatever situation we may be in. Hence, being impatient usually entails wanting more at a shorter time, or rather, wanting a longer time to get more as well. Many are being prideful of with false prophesies of discerning God's Timing by being righteously selfish to serve oneself instead of waiing for God's timing. Such disobedience and lack of discipline will only add on more milestones to our already worldly and burdened life.

In times of trouble, we usually press on to solve things in our flawed human ways - the curse of impatience. Only when we find that we are stuck and completely lose hope, we'd turn to God. We naturally want to use our heads and jump into the problem whenever we can, humanely, without being prayerful about it. Falling into the grips of depending on ourselves are not uncommon. Everywhere we go, we hear and see such cases, where one had drained all his/her energy, emotions, and all other resources, and still feel frustrated that the problem is taking a time too long to solve or not solved at all!

Being prayerful at times of such to receive God's wisdom and His timely solution has to be applied, but we are flawed. We would start to only pray when we find ourselves in a fix. Wouldn't it be wise of us to walk closely with God at all times and give it to God to accompany us in walking through the wilderness? The Psalmists are experts at advising this as they are wise. They said God is "a refuge in times of trouble" (Psalms 9:9), and true enough we should never be overcome by the enemy who is always scheming and plotting by pulling us down at all times, and lie to us, making us feel like failures instead of victors through patience. We fear all such failures, in fact, any failure in life. I chewed and munched over a part of the following scripture, partially taken from Joshua 1: 9, "... Do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go". I am given the confidence, an assurance, that He will not abandon us at times of trouble.

Still, we are to be reminded that by giving, sharing and asking for God's guidance would require us to submit in obedience, in waiting for God's timing. Thus, the fellowship of man is to keep the fire burning, in reminding, and in communion. That's where the importance of not missing a Sunday service, a prayer meeting, a Bible study is all about. Humans that we are, and our flesh is always weak unless we are willing for God to constantly monitor us. We'll soon find that we acquire a 'cheerful endurance' without grumbling, as in having the patience to wait for His timing.

Our obedience and discipline are equally important in learning how to listen to God's Timing as well. It's a discernment from Sovereign, a blessing in the form of divine wisdom. It's free, it's via Salvation, which is a gift to those who choose to walk closely with the Lord. It's not always measured by the world's standards though, and our flesh are always trying to lean towards the worldly ways making most of our Christian lives lukewarm. It's stated in 'Serving God in the Last Days' (1 Peter 4), that we have to have the attitude of having full commitment to God in all that pleases Him. Having one leg in the church and another in the worldly ways will still lead us to the second death. Our eyes, once opened to the experience God, and to whatever that is or not sinful, will always stay open. The seed is sown. To go against this, we will subject ourselves to being judged at the end of the day in the presence of God and bear the full brunt of God's wrath. It's a simple choice, do we want to suffer the second death after our earthly bodies pass away? I'll leave the question to you. To gain eternal life and claim God's promises is to live in the Will of God. Through Christ's death on the cross, our sins are washed away. God's grace and mercy continuously give us time to repent for our sins. Repetitive sins after numerous repentance, would only mean that we are taking God's grace and mercy for fun. In our obedience and our willingness to be disciplined, He will also reward us, and make us better persons for the morrow throughout and in His Timing. If it's not in this world's timing, it will be in the heavens, in God's Timing.