Tag: faith

THE IMPORTANCE OF TIMING IN THE SEASONS OF LIFE

Suoyo Aganaba

THE IMPORTANCE OF TIMING IN THE SEASONS OF LIFE (CLOSE THE CHAPTER 5)

“So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Psalm 90:12.

 “To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven” Ecclesiastes 3:1.

Time is of the essence as far as our lives on earth are concerned. Here on earth, the time available to us is limited. We don’t have the luxury of infinity. We must do whatever we need to do as appropriate. It is not enough to know what needs to be done, but it is equally important to recognize when it should be done. As we study the processes God has established in the cycle of human life, we will discover that we cannot over emphasize the issue of time. Everything is regulated by time. Our wisdom lies in being able to recognize the right time to do whatever we are called to do. Closing old chapters and beginning new chapters are time related. There are two basic concepts which deal with “time” in the scriptures. To make them clearer I will employ two Greek words for “time” in explaining the concepts. The words are “kronos” and “kairos”.

Kronos– from where we get the words chronology or sequence and chronometer which in the old days referred to the timepiece. The stages and phases of our lives change with time. Things which may be okay for one phase or stage of life may not be okay for another. For instance, some things can only be done within a particular age bracket. Our needs change also with time and age. These changes, stages and phases determine what should be relevant to us and what should not be; what we should shut off from our lives and what we need to embrace.

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11.

There are attitudes and actions we can tolerate from a child which cannot be excused in adults. The difference is in how long we have been here and the growth factor such that we ought to know better. At this stage of your life there are some things we must call childish and foolish. Close the chapter on childish and foolish things.

Kairos – which is another word for time does not necessarily refer to sequence or chronology but to “season”. “Kairos” and “kronos” are different in that while “kronos” is sequence related, “kairos” is opportunity related. It deals with understanding a season and acting promptly to make the best of the opportunity it presents.

We therefore need to know the appropriate time to close certain chapters of our lives in order to make way for new chapters to be opened. There are some chapters that must close now which if we leave open much longer would have been left too late. There are other chapters that we cannot close now else the closure will be premature. Finally, note this scripture which deals with the wisdom of getting the right timing.

“Do thy diligence to come before winter…” 2 Timothy 4:21a.

In this passage quoted from the letter of Paul the Apostle to his young protégé Timothy we see a passionate plea from the older and more experienced man to the younger man. It presupposes that if we are not careful to get the right time, we may leave it too late. “Come before winter” because some things cannot be done in the “winter.” In such a case if you wait till “winter” you would have waited for far too long to do what is necessary. Get it right. Jesus advised us to learn to discern the signs of the times. What’s your response now?

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Unprofitable and Retrogressive Relationships (Close the Chapter 3)

“Become wise by walking with the wise; hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.” Proverbs 13:20 (You Version).

Close the chapter on relationships which do not add to you, empower you and challenge you to do better or move forward. Someone has observed that there are three kinds of people: yesterday people, today people, and tomorrow people. Some people want to keep you tied to your past never wanting you to move ahead. You do not need a close relationship with someone who is trapped in the past. Such people like you as you were and are uncomfortable with your progress. Such a relationship will likely steal your tomorrow if you don’t close the chapter. Some are relevant for your today but have no place in your tomorrow. We must not hold tight to those from whom we need to disconnect. Close the chapter.

You cannot maintain close associations that don’t value your purpose or respect your goals. Avoid close associations with those who downplay your pluses while magnifying your minuses. In the same way, avoid those who make you feel comfortable with your errors and would like you to be complacent in them. Your close relationships must love you enough to confront you and help empower you for the future.

There are people who are perpetually depressed and pessimistic. They have chosen the down attitude in life. Understand that it is easy to catch their attitude by close association. You cannot have such people as your close friends if you have a purpose for your life. You don’t need discouragers and “pitiers”. You need encouragers, challengers and “empowerers”.

Take responsibility for your relationships. Don’t just let people force themselves into your life. Qualify those with whom you enter into relationship so that your life can be purposeful, meaningful and directed. You can never be better than your closest relationships. Therefore, pursue relationships which will add value to you in the long run. Nurture such relationships and sow into them. Write your script through the close associations in your life.



Past Hurts, Injuries, and Disappointments

Suoyo Aganaba

Past Hurts, Injuries and Disappointments (Close the Chapter 2)

Close the chapter on past hurts, injuries, and disappointments. If you do not do so, you cannot move forward in a fulfilling way. Many of us have been hurt and betrayed at one time or the other. Many have been wounded in life. You must however not leave your wounds open. If you leave them open, they fester to become terrible sores. Untreated and unhealed wounds can become infected thus leading to more deadly diseases. Many a person has died from wounds that could have been treated and recovered from.

Emotional wounds are dangerous, so you must not leave them open or untreated. Furthermore, understand that revenge does not heal an emotional wound. It rather infects it. Bitterness and unforgiveness never heal emotional wounds. They infect them. Feeling sorry for yourself and going into depression will never heal your life; it will rather systematically tear you apart.  At times in seeking pity and understanding from others when we have been wounded and hurt, we do not realize that we become more vulnerable thereby allowing so called sympathetic ears take advantage of us. Many women have found themselves getting into illicit affairs with men who “offered them a shoulder to cry on.”

Arise in your mind. Take responsibility. Don’t subject your joy to the whims of a wicked injurious fellow. Write your script through faith in God. Understand that while you cannot control the actions of others towards you, you can choose your reactions. This is a response of faith. If you do not bring a closure to hurts and wounds you have put your future firmly in the hands of the people who hurt you in the first place.  

Be proactive in your response. Find out how you can move forward from the point of betrayal. Empower your life through thinking solutions and not being bedeviled by problems, hurt, and pain. You cannot want to move forward yet keep your gaze fixed backwards. Deal with it, and let it go.

CLOSE THE CHAPTER 1

Suoyo Aganaba

PAGES OF LIFE

Shakespeare likened the world to a stage and every one of us as players or actors on the stage. There are seasons and stages of life. Your life if told as a story may be arranged into various acts, scenes, and settings. In the story of your life, you are the main character, and you should be proactive in pursuit of purpose. A written story unfolds in words, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters. The chapters could unfold the different seasons in the life of the main character. The paragraphs show the flow of the story within the chapter and the sentences serve their purpose in the gradual unfolding of the story one word after another.

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:1. NKJV.

In order to translate from one season to another in the story of our lives, one chapter may need to close for you to transition to your new season. The Bible is replete with instances in the lives of various people who moved from one season to another simply because a chapter of their lives closed. The closing of those chapters created avenues for new opportunities and doors to open up. Jesus the Christ said even a grain of wheat must first close the chapter on its old life in death before it can grow to bear much fruit else it remains unproductive (John 12:24).

When Saul the first King of Israel persisted in his disobedient and unrepentant ways, Samuel the prophet who had anointed him king was heartbroken; he grieved ceaselessly over him. God asked the prophet, “How long will you grieve for Saul …?” Samuel was stuck in an era which was passing away. Samuel was instructed to dry his tears, and go anoint David as King in order to move the nation forward. There are many things in our lives representing chapters which we ought to close, yet have left open, and essentially, they keep us stalled.

Our dilemma is that we like to hold on tight to the familiar (even when unhelpful and unproductive) when we ought to let go of the unproductive and unhelpful in order to be free to purposefully move towards the possibilities in the seasons ahead. To move forward, you may need to close some chapters, draw the curtain on some scenes and venture into the future in faith. In the story of your life, the onus is on you to prayerfully assess where you are, where you are going, and what you need to change in order to get there. Some things need to come to an end so that you can be free to pursue the next season or chapter of your life. Make your assessments and decide what needs to change, what needs to go, and what should stay. The move is yours to make, and you must be purpose directed as you move forward.