OBSERVE THE SEASON

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven….” Eccle.3:1(NIV)

The Lord brought an event to mind as I began to write this article. Sometimes in 1988, in college, I had attended a friend’s birthday party. Suddenly, I started feeling like I should leave this party. I still remember vividly how I went out twice and came back in to the house where all my friends were. 
I asked a few if we could leave but they said ‘not yet’. I became really restless. I was enjoying it too. So, I suppressed the thought of leaving the party for the need to remain and party on, mainly because my friends were still there and I thought a few guys there were winking at me. I wanted to enjoy a bit more of the attention. 

Not long after this, the nudging to leave started again but before I could say jack, guys were breaking bottles, fights and fists were raging, we were scrambling for safety. It all became messy and I escaped by whisker from being bottle-stabbed. It was a nightmare, I hate to remember it but the memory is still as fresh as the day it happened.


I had not given my life to Christ at the time, yet God was still able to forewarn me of an impending danger. He cared so much for me that He wanted to prevent me from being at the party before the scuffle began. I didn’t know His voice; I couldn’t tell it was Him. The season of enjoyment and merriment was soon to be over and I didn’t know; I stayed on. Glory be to God who preserved my life.


When we fail to observe the season, we linger on too much in places, relationship or with people that we miss the time when our honour/life/testimony or integrity should have been preserved. Even in the face of obvious warnings, signs and doubtful convictions, we still hang on in there. 
Especially in relationships, the handwriting is written in bold that this is going no where, what do we do? We stay in, waiting to work things out, trying to fix the life of an adult for him and volunteering to be his mother. We try everything possible to keep ourselves hopeful even in the face of a hopeless situation. Isn’t it time we moved?


A lady stayed on in her job for over 15years, fifteen frustrating years, she remained in the job that stole her joy away and left her unhappy so many times. One day, she woke up and felt it was time she moved on. That was her season. She knew it, grabbed it and used it. From her baking for special occasions and children’s model toy cakes, she made in a year what she couldn’t earn in fifteen years of a paid job. She came off and launched into a new adventure just at the right time. 


Have a look at the passage and see for yourself what season you are in presently and what season you should embrace right now. Pray and ask God for the grace to discern correctly and take the bold step to switch into the right season of your life.
We often take a cursory look at Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, I think it is time we took a deeper dive into the meaning and application of these scriptures. This will reveal to us the emphasis that God has placed on us knowing and observing times and seasons. 


“There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.”

Understand the season you are in at the present moment, observe diligently the time and act appropriately. You may dial God in prayer for accurate observation and discernment of your season. 
Trust our Christ Jesus for every step you need to take all the way into your new season.
God bless you.