Watermelons in February? How does a grower manage that? Not very well, I tell you. I fell for it last week when a decent price on one of my favorite summer fruits called my name. I can’t say I was surprised when I cut into it and found it to be an utter disappointment. I was reminded that you can try to force things to happen for any number of reasons, but even the right thing in the wrong season is going to be wrong.
Learning to discern the season you are in is wise. The Byrds popularized a song back in 1965, but it was written centuries before, “to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven”. (See Ecclesiates 3:1)
There are several benefits to discerning the season for your life, your business, your organization.
1) Forcing things to happen when it’s not time is exhausting at best and destructive at worst. I started one business years ago when it wasn’t the right time and it failed to be productive or enduring. Perhaps the first debacle recorded involving this kind of presumption was way back when Abraham, the “Father of All Nations”, and Sarah had been promised a baby. Years went by and Sarah started thinking she needed to take matters into her own hands. Having another woman sleep with her husband to get the process moving didn’t turn out well.
2) Patience with an appreciation of the process is not emphasized in our culture. We want results and we want them fast. I’m just as guilty as the next person when it comes to that mindset.
3) Appreciating the season we are in rather than longing to move ahead to the next one is a key to happiness. Finding the good in each day – being fully present in the moment – this is to live fully.
4) Knowing when to let go of the old and move into the new is another component to success and happiness. As much as I’m a proponent of persistence, resilience, and endurance – it is sometimes the season to stop doing what worked in the previous season.
Everything has seasons. I believe in process. In recognizing that timing contributes as much to the success of something as our hard work, we can find a measure of peace. For here is the truth:
“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
A time to be born, And a time to die;
A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill, And a time to heal;
A time to break down, And a time to build up;
A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain, And a time to lose;
A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
A time to tear, And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
A time to love, And a time to hate;
A time of war, And a time of peace.
…He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.”
One who is wise is able to discern the season. Let that be me…