Created For These Times – Part 1
My walk with God has taught me that everything God permits is for a reason and a purpose even when I don’t understand them. This includes the difficult times and seasons of my life. Sometimes I think about why God allows certain seasons or events to occur. When faced with devastating situations that defy any comforting explanations, we try to come up with reasons to make ourselves feel better about the situation. Scripture is full of men trying to understand God’s plan in difficult times. A classic example is David. On a good day it appeared he had everything figured out about God and the circumstances surrounding his life and we see him full of praises to God (See Psalm 147). On a bad day, it looks like God had abandoned him and he finds himself in a state of confusion and despair (See Psalm 13).
We all behave like David, sometimes we understand the seasons we find ourselves in, other times we are in a state of confusion, fear and doubt. It doesn’t matter what state we find ourselves in; scripture encourages us to consistently seek God, and I think this is what makes David stand out. It did not matter what state he found himself in, he always sought God for clarity and direction. In Psalm 25, David first affirms his trust in God; “In you, Lord my God, I put my trust” (Psalm 25:1). Then he goes on to ask God for knowledge and understanding about His ways “Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths” (Psalm 25:4, NIV).
It doesn’t matter if we understand the times or not, we should continue to seek God’s face and affirm our trust in Him. We may not understand the impact of certain events in our lives now or in the future, but we can keep trusting God. We can’t rely on our human intellect because our human understanding has limitations. Solomon reminds us of this in Ecclesiastes 11:5, NLT “Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things”.
Regardless of our limitations, God still wants us to understand our seasons and times. We know this because we are alive. He spared us to experience the seasons and times we find ourselves in, in other words, he created us for these times. When we seek God’s face to understand times and seasons, in His graciousness, He will speak to us and give us clarity. Since our human understanding is limited, we can’t understand times and seasons by our wisdom but through God and the help of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 17:26-28, NLT: From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being’. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’ (emphasis added).
It is in seeking God that we understand the times and we know what to do. When we know what to do, we become equipped to position our hearts for victory through Him. Share on XOur lives depend on the times and seasons God has appointed to us. By our understanding, God changes the times and seasons (Daniel 2:21), that’s why times and seasons in our lives keep changing. But when we consider God’s plan in the totality of His love and saving grace towards us, then we understand that in Him, they are fixed. In other words, God knows the end of every matter from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). Times and seasons are not for Him but for us. He chose when we should be born, He determined when we should walk on the surface of the earth and when we should die. In His grand scheme, there is a reason He needs you on the earth at this moment in the history of the world. God knows the joy, pain, victory, defeat and chaos that may be ahead of us, therefore wisdom demands that we do not relent in seeking Him. It is in seeking Him that we understand the times and we know what to do. When we know what to do, we become equipped to position our hearts for victory through Him.
Since we were created for these times, we can only maximize the harvest of the season when we live in Him, “for in him we live and move and have our being…” (Acts 17:28, NIV). In other words, our survival is in Him. The air we breathe to stay alive is in Him, the shield that protects us is in Him, what gives us expression is in Him and what makes us whole and complete is in Him.
When we give ourselves to the word of God, we begin to operate on God’s wavelength, and we can see the times and seasons we find ourselves in through the lens of His word.
In 1 Chronicles 12:32, NKJV we learn that the sons of Issachar understood the times; “of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command”. The sons of Issachar knew exactly when to support David to become King and they knew what to do to make it happen. It means they could come up with a plan as their understanding of the times and seasons gave them leverage. According to 1 Chronicles 12:23, whatever action they were going to take based on their understanding was according to the word of the Lord. In other words, their understanding of the times was according to God’s word. When we give ourselves to the word of God, we begin to operate on God’s wavelength, and we can see the times and seasons we find ourselves in through the lens of His word.
As we grow in our walk with God we should not only learn to trust and rest in His promises, we should make a conscious effort in seeking His face and relying on His word to understand our times and seasons. You will not find anyone in 2021 trying to set up their office with typewriters. Typewriters were used in a time that is behind us, computers can do the work typewriters were created to do much more efficiently. As children of God, we should desire to understand our season in God’s plan and walk according to it or we risk losing out of what God wants us to learn or benefit. We were created for these times and God has equipped and blessed us with all the resources we need to maximize every season of life all to His glory.
Prayer: Dear Father, teach me to understand the times and seasons in my life, and help me to lean and trust in you even when I do not understand what is going on around me. Amen
For Part 2, of this topic, we will look at a bible character that maximized every season in his life and positioned himself to walk in God’s plan for his life and for the salvation of others. Please subscribe to our mailing list to get a notification when it is published.
