Don't Work By Another Man's Timing

Don't Work By Another Man's Timing

The Yoruba's have an adage that goes thus: 
"Ma Fi Ago Alago Śiśé!" which simply means: 
"Don't Work By Another Man's Timing" or "Don't Use Someone else's Timing to Work."

As our faces are different so are the portions God has assigned to all of us. We all have our own individual destinies and the ways by which we are to fulfill them also vary.

Because a person uses a particular way to get something done does not mean it will work out the same way for another. Comparisons can be dangerous and so counterproductive if we choose to live by such.

In Ecclesiastes 9: 11, King Solomon, the wisest earthly king that ever ruled said this truth: 
"The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all."

God's sovereign choice of the particular "Time" and "Chance" , that is, the "Opportunity" God allots to an individual to accomplish an endeavour is what makes the difference between success and failure, and how to access it and enjoy God's Favour concerning them solely depends on the relationship we choose to have with our Creator.

Paul puts this in proper perspective when he said in Acts 20: 24, 
".., I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."

In Acts 17: 26 - 27, it is written, 
26. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 
27. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

This makes us understand that our appointed times and extent of our wealth, influence and power have been set by God for the sole purpose of us seeking Him, reaching out to Him and finding Him as who He is - Our Creator and Redeemer, God Almighty.

Therefore we can ill afford to use the timing and yardsticks others use and pattern our lives after them oblivious of God's specific plan for us as individuals.

King Solomons walk with God made him come to the conclusion he came to in Ecclesiastes 8: 5 - 6, when he said: 
5. Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. 
6. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a person may be weighed down by misery.

There is indeed Gods proper time and procedure for every matter in the life of an individual, and it takes a wise person that is consistent in cultivating a loving relationship with God and His Word, that he may understand His ways and therefore obey His command to enjoy such a provision.