Time and chance

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them (Ecc. 9:11)

If you have lived long enough, you would have observed what the preacher was saying in our text. You can simply tell after some time of being around that success in life goes beyond your personal efforts and abilities. There are so many other factors that may have direct or indirect relationship with your success that you barely have control over physically. There is the element of time and chance; that you have no control over where you were born and who you parents should be, you had little or no control over what school to attend and where to live as a little child, and many other such factors.  

Some young people will sit with elders and hear about the “good old days” and wish they were around those times, but you didn’t have the power to make such choices, and that is why we must have some sense of appreciation for God in His perfect arrangement of times and seasons. But when the scriptures refer to the elements of time and chance as being instrumental to your success as against only your human efforts and abilities, it does not in any way absorb you of your responsibilities, or the necessary efforts that you must personally put into being successful. Something to bear in mind is that even if all the elements of time and chance were in your favour, and opportunities come to you as clearly as possible, if you were not prepared, you may not even recognize the opportunities, not to talk about taking advantage of them. So you see that self preparation is very important in getting the elements of time and chance to work in your favour.

Now, even though God has set forth times and seasons, He can still move things further in your favour as you may desire and seek Him for. You ask how do I know this? Well, the scripture records one of such incidences in the bible book of Joshua 10, where God suspended time in favour of His people. Joshua and the army of Israel fought a fierce battle against the Amorites, and even though they had the upper hand because God had them prepared for the battle ahead, time would not allow them to successfully execute judgment on their enemies, so God had to move things further in their favour.

As a believer, God has given you authority, and the ability to use His power for that which is good and of a worthy course. God has given you ability to speak powerful words that can influence the seasons of your life. This means that even though you didn’t have control over certain things like we spoke about earlier, you can still re-direct the course of your life by what you believe and the words you speak forth. You can re-direct opportunities in your favour and begin to influence the seasons of your life. 

It begins by meditating in the word of God, not just as a tradition, but in order to deliberately influence your believe system. I should quickly point out at this point that this will be the most challenging step in the attempt to influence the seasons of your life, and it must be continual and consistent. Once these things are settled in your heart, then you can begin to speak them forth in prayers to God and as your declarations. As a wise believer, also take advantage of sowing your seeds and expect God to bring you rich harvest. These actions will ultimately influence how the seasons of your life will turn out, and put you in a place where you are prepared to meet the opportunities that God is bringing your way. Time and chance have a part to play on your journey to success, but ultimately, it is you that must take charge and seek to influence things and prepare yourself to become the successful person that you have always wanted to become.