\'Tis the Season
“For EVERYTHING there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
You have hopes, dreams, desires. You’re ambitious and always have been. You have a goal in mind and you go out to accomplish that goal. We do what our heart desires. But what if there is a specific timeline to what you want to accomplish? What if there is a schedule that you should be following to ensure that you are properly prepared for the things you want to accomplish?
For all my fellow academics, let me put it like this. What if there was a syllabus for life? A detailed description of what you will do over a period of time. Like most classes with a syllabus, there are introductions and certain chapters and topics that will be taught and discussed. There are assignments and projects that you are required to complete. There are scheduled tests to demonstrate what you have learned. After a series of lessons, assignments, and tests will you start moving on to more challenging topics. Yet, the class was designed to have topics that build upon each other. And only after you have completed these series of steps successfully, could you move on to a higher level course. Passing the class and advancing may have been the goal, but you couldn’t just jump into the course anywhere in the syllabus and expect to be prepared for the final examination. Even if you did advance to the next course, how equipped will you be for what is expected of you next?
I think you see where I’m going with this. God has a plan for your life. A syllabus of sorts. It’s carefully laid out. And our success in life is heavily dependent upon us following His syllabus, doing the work He assigns to us, and passing the tests He has for us, IN PROPER ORDER.
Your desires and passions are not a bad thing.
Your desires and passions are not a bad thing. Those are the very things God has placed inside of you for Him to use. However, the accomplishment of your desires and passions can become destructive if you try to insert them into your life at the wrong time.
I was busy moving from my point A to point B.
As a high academic achiever, I have always had a plan for my life. I was going to medical school. Point, blank, period. Nobody could tell me otherwise. I finished my prerequisites, took the MCAT, gained field experience, obtained a Master’s of Science, and attended a plethora of pre-med conferences. The whole time God was whispering to me, “it’s not your season for this”. But I wasn’t listening. I wouldn’t have been able to hear Him even if He was screaming in my ear. Because I wasn’t looking to hear from Him. I was busy moving from my point A to point B. Frankly, I wasn’t concerned about what God wanted me to do and when He wanted me to do it. I had a goal and I was determined to accomplish it.
For all my fellow academics, let me put it like this. What if there was a syllabus for life? A detailed description of what you will do over a period of time. Like most classes with a syllabus, there are introductions and certain chapters and topics that will be taught and discussed. There are assignments and projects that you are required to complete. There are scheduled tests to demonstrate what you have learned. After a series of lessons, assignments, and tests will you start moving on to more challenging topics. Yet, the class was designed to have topics that build upon each other. And only after you have completed these series of steps successfully, could you move on to a higher level course. Passing the class and advancing may have been the goal, but you couldn’t just jump into the course anywhere in the syllabus and expect to be prepared for the final examination. Even if you did advance to the next course, how equipped will you be for what is expected of you next?
I think you see where I’m going with this. God has a plan for your life. A syllabus of sorts. It’s carefully laid out. And our success in life is heavily dependent upon us following His syllabus, doing the work He assigns to us, and passing the tests He has for us, IN PROPER ORDER.
Your desires and passions are not a bad thing.
Your desires and passions are not a bad thing. Those are the very things God has placed inside of you for Him to use. However, the accomplishment of your desires and passions can become destructive if you try to insert them into your life at the wrong time.
I was busy moving from my point A to point B.
As a high academic achiever, I have always had a plan for my life. I was going to medical school. Point, blank, period. Nobody could tell me otherwise. I finished my prerequisites, took the MCAT, gained field experience, obtained a Master’s of Science, and attended a plethora of pre-med conferences. The whole time God was whispering to me, “it’s not your season for this”. But I wasn’t listening. I wouldn’t have been able to hear Him even if He was screaming in my ear. Because I wasn’t looking to hear from Him. I was busy moving from my point A to point B. Frankly, I wasn’t concerned about what God wanted me to do and when He wanted me to do it. I had a goal and I was determined to accomplish it.
Frankly, I wasn’t concerned about what God wanted me to do and when He wanted me to do it. I had a goal and I was determined to accomplish it.
Then from one roadblock to the next, I realized I was being held back by something. My husband and I then gave birth to our first born child. Yet, even after giving birth to her I was determined to be a stay at home mom for about a year and then continue my pursuit. Six months after the birth of my daughter, I became pregnant with our son. At that point, I said “wait a minute God! This was not a part of MY plan”. Not to mention many of my friends and family were saying things like, “What happened to medical school?... You better not quit… Don’t give up on your dream”. That is when God whispered to me again. This time I was quiet enough to hear, because I was desperate and seeking to hear from Him. He whispered again, “It’s not your season for medicine, it’s your season for motherhood”.
What I realized was that He had not given up on His promise of me becoming a doctor. It just wasn’t the right time. I started looking and listening to see what He wanted of me. In other words, I finally looked at the syllabus. And I realized that this season has been designated as time to support my husband, nurture my children, and encourage women like you.
The more I walk in this season, the less anxious I am about my future goals and ambitions. I know it's in the syllabus, but I haven’t reached that point yet. Now I can take one day at a time and complete each assignment as it is given.
Sit still, pray, then listen. Ask God to reveal to you the syllabus He has for your life and the assignment He has for you today.
Stay Braless.
“For EVERYTHING there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
What I realized was that He had not given up on His promise of me becoming a doctor. It just wasn’t the right time. I started looking and listening to see what He wanted of me. In other words, I finally looked at the syllabus. And I realized that this season has been designated as time to support my husband, nurture my children, and encourage women like you.
The more I walk in this season, the less anxious I am about my future goals and ambitions. I know it's in the syllabus, but I haven’t reached that point yet. Now I can take one day at a time and complete each assignment as it is given.
Sit still, pray, then listen. Ask God to reveal to you the syllabus He has for your life and the assignment He has for you today.
Stay Braless.
“For EVERYTHING there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
Resources
Need help hearing the whisper of God? Check out Whisper by Mark Batterson and Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer on my resources page.
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