Time and Chance

Part 1: Time and Chance Happens to them all

One afternoon as I was having lunch at a staff canteen my boss and colleague TBC came to me and said "You know what young man, success is very simple it is just doing the right thing, the right way at the right time." From that statement I understood that life or success in life can be defined by looking at the three facets of life that is

●       purpose (the right thing)

●       character and competencies (the right way)

●       timing (the right time)

Considering that I feel it is important to understand the time aspect of life. With that in mind I feel the book of Ecclesiates is the best book to teach us on the time element as it has so many scriptures relating to time and use of time.

Ecc 9:10  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Ecc 9:11  I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

Ecc 9:12  For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

Ecc 9:13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

This year as I was celebrating my birthday, I just took a retrospect into the last few years which I have lived in my life. What is so special about that birthday celebration is that I believe that I was being ushered into another level of life. With that in mind I thought it would be nice that I share with friends some of the lessons I have learnt about life and the approach I am now taking. This I honestly believe will drive us to the next level.

The Word of God in Ecclesiastes indicates that there is something special about how we use our time and understanding times. What I understand from this statement is that the success of a man in any field is underpinned on time and opportunities how we use the two.

When we talk of time it is important to realise that time can be defined by two Greek terms which are Kairos and Chronos. An understanding of the two terms will make us develop in our understanding of time

 Kairos - the right, opportune or seasonal time (the supreme moment).

 Kairos refers to the right time, opportune time or seasonable time. It cannot be measured. It is the perfect time, the qualitative time, the perfect moment, the “now.”  

Kronos (Chronos) - time as chronology; tick-tock time.

It is measured, or chronicled, by clocks, hours, minutes and seconds. It is the time in which we make appointments and face deadlines. It tends to be more of a taskmaster than a friend. We schedule our lives by it. Most people speak of never having enough of it as we race around the clock to make sure we maximize the time. 

Considering the seasonal (kairos) aspect you need to realise that there is a season for everything on the earth as written in Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1 "To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." This makes it clear then that in life it is important to understand the seasons of life and act accordingly.

However it is also important to capture the measured time aspect and do what is supposed

to be done in that specific season. You need an element of time management (Knonos) in

order to redeem the available time and not let seasons pass by without you having done a

thing.  Ecc 9:10 “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no

work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.”

The sons of Issachar factor

1Ch 12:32 " And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment."

There is something about the sons of Issachar which we need to learn and do as well.

1.       Knowing the times (Kairos moment)

The special thing about the sons of Issachar is that they had an understanding of the times. It is usually a problem in our lives when we do not know the seasons that we are in. It is like when you are in winter and you put on summer dressing, you will suffer from the cold.

I believe it is important for us to know the seasons in or personal lives, marriages, family lives, cities and communities. When you know the season you are in you can at least be at an advantage. According to Robert Kiyosaki those who make it in life and those who will be rich, are not those who look for solutions, but those who look for problems then solve the problem. It is not those who say what is it that is making people rich, but those who will say what problems are people facing in this season. They will then come up with solutions which the rest will take up after some time, and say this is what is making people rich when they will have made money already.  So in a season look for problem associated with the season and solve it and you will be successful and be a significant.

In the season of social networks everyone is making gadgets which are compatible with social network platforms in order to make it. Even churches are now very active on the Social Networks.

Churches which have an understanding that this is the season of the miraculous and the prophetic are the ones which are growing significantly. The moment a ministry or a minister does not understand the spiritual seasons they may as well become obsolete. Even the Word of God speaks of new songs and prophetic words and seasons, just to show that seasons change.

We need to be people who understand the seasons that we are in just like the sons of Issachar. Understanding or knowledge of the seasons normally comes by revelation. That revelation brings understanding or knowledge.

When it comes to understanding the times there are many ways we can understand the times but I will look at one of the ways which is given in the book of Chronicles.

• II Chronicles 20 verse 20 "And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper." Believing in His prophets shows that the men of God can give us a word which can makes us prosper. I believe this is because they can see upfront and they make us plan as according to the future coming seasons.
• Revelation from God. If we are prophetic people i.e. men and women who hear from God we can also be able to hear what God is saying about the times to come.

2.       Knowing what has to be done. (Chance or Opportunity)

The other thing is that the sons of Issachar knew what Israel ought to do. After knowing the times we need to be people who have an understanding of what has to be done by both us and those around us.

It is not enough to know and understand the season that you are in or that is coming. But you also need to be people who have to know what has to be done in that season. This unlike the Kairos timing calls not only for revelation and understanding but for wisdom. Having known that this is winter you need to know that both yourself and the people around you have to put on winter wear.

As ministers of the Word, business people and leaders in any facet of life for you to be a relevant leader you need to have the wisdom to understand what has to be done at any given time. When a season appears you need the wisdom to see the ministry, business or leadership opportunities associated with the season at hand.

Take time to think what you can do in the prevailing season.

Neh 1:3-4 “ And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province

are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof

are burned with fire.  And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and

mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven “

You will discover that after prayer and fasting Nehemiah saw an opportunity to rebuild the wall of

Jerusalem and thereby lead the children of Israel in an assignment.

 3.       Taking Action (Kronos Timing)

I believe for it to be recorded that the sons of Issachar understood the times and knew what Israel ought to do is because they took some action. The action they took can be given in two forms that is,

●      It is either they acted according to the times and season such that people realised that these guys understood the seasons. This is what I call informed action. They say "action speaks louder than words."

●      Or they passed on the message of what has to be done to Israel according to the season. This means that the sons of Issachar acted as heralds of the messages of the times and the plans and actions to be done in the period and times.

People who operate on this level are men of action. They believe in doing thing and not just in talk. However you will see that these men and women are also in three groups.

a)      Those who act.

These are men who will take action whenever need arises. As soon as they see an opportunity they pounce on it. We see this in David. An opportunity presented itself before him in the form of Goliath and he took action (killed Goliath)

b)     Those who act through others.

These act as heralds but because they are now established they will have other people act on their behalf. We see this in Moses as he sends the twelve to spy in the land of Canaan. He saw an opportunity to act but he acted through other people but the result would be his result.

c)      They have someone who sees the opportunities and act on their behalf.

These are men and women who will have people to do the work of seeing revelation and acting on their behalf. We see this in the life of Pharaoh. Pharaoh had a revelation of a season to come but did not understand it and have the wisdom to deal with it. He therefore employed Joseph to do that for him and the success of the nation obviously established Pharaoh as a world power.

Conclusion

As the word of God says we need to be people with an understanding that time and chance happen to them all. The way you will understand the seasons, see the opportunities and act based on the times and seasons in a planned and organised way, will be proportional to the success that may come your way

Living in His Word

 Grad de Munya