You say Seasons, I hear Shortcuts!

Do You know the feeling of seeing the work you need to do very clearly laid out before you? but for the love of God, you cannot find the motivation or zeal to start? and like the human you are with an amazing brain, it shifts to shortcut mode, or procrastinate mode? Ahhh, just me, well lucky you, this is the bane of my current season! Let me give a quick definition of what I mean by seasons. In this blog, seasons will refer to a distinct period of our lives, the way the year has 4 distinct seasons, well not in the UK, our lives have multiple, that can be clear cut or intertwined. When I say shortcuts, I mean us wanting to do anything else other than actually go through the season we are in, with diligence and as much patience as required.

Let me use an example common to our generation; the work of gaining weight or losing weight. This is not a small boy task, it is annoyingly a task that needs devotion, commitment, diligence and intentionality. Now you can have all the intentionality in the world but have no motivation to give the devotion and commitment required to actually do the task (weight manipulation). Chances are you will be stuck. Now with the world being clever in its own ways, there are shortcuts to weight manipulation, like drugs, that may not necessarily cost you all that much monetarily. It will however cost you a fortune in the mindset you could have cultivated if you were diligent, committed and devoted, which would be gainz to your mindset in the future.

Or another beautiful example, which might be more common, since not everyone cares about weight manipulation right 🤔; It’s taking a test or an exam. I’m personally not a fan of these but if you miss these in education you’ll get them in life, so it is a task worth being diligent in. Unfortunately, when it comes to tests and exams in school the world has a handful of clever shortcuts as well. Shortcuts that look so glamorous and tempting. In the same vein of thought, not learning the character and mindset you need to learn from taking tests and exams will cost you the results you need in the future.

You know I look back on primary and secondary school days and I cannot believe I woke up early every weekday morning to be at school at 8:45am, 5 days a week for about 10 years, like how? Why? I do know for a fact now in my adult years that 10 years of what I would call torture really, has trained me and set me up to wake up as early as I need to even on 3, 4 hrs Sleep. Now, this is such a noteworthy and crucial skill to possess. Funny enough I currently work as a TA now, which mean that I have to be at school by 8.30 every morning, now Imagine I never learnt from the 10 years of school, I would be struggling now.

Okay enough examples, have we ever heard the phrase (well bible verse really), that there is a time for everything?

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Ecc 3:1 (-8)

This bible verse gives me so much joy and peace and yet so much conviction. So much joy and peace because it assures me that life isn’t stagnant (one of my phobias); that things will not always be as it is, and that there is a plan and purpose to everything I experience, good and bad. But it also causes conviction and a slight worry for the exact reasons it causes joy and peace. Let me explain. I am now very aware that there is a purpose and plan to everything. So I can’t just only be angry and unhappy when things go bad, I can be angry and unhappy, but I also need to be purposeful. It’s easier to just be angry and unhappy. SIGH.

There is also conviction because of my awareness that life isn’t stagnant, which means what I experience in this season might never come back around the same way again. So no matter how much I might love and enjoy a season, I do have to move to the next, with whatever my teacher has taught me, miss Experience! I now have to ask myself, ‘Am I doing miss Experience proud in my current season, or will she be disappointed that I still didn’t learn what she taught in the last season.

Existing as stagnant in a life that doesn’t permit stagnation is probably the most mentally draining cycle one can go thru. I think planet Mars might permit stagnation, but in the meantime let’s be grounded to the earth. Earth itself, asin the ball isn’t stagnant, it is constantly spinning, and if it were to consider stagnation, welp! (I actually don’t know what would happen but) it wouldn’t be good.

The other day I tried to jot down my current season (asin a few months ago, cos late posting), so my status in education, finances, where I am serving as a church, those that are important in my life, and just things that I am experiencing. This was so I take note of things I should be learning in this season cos it might not be the same the next week. Lo and behold, like clockwork about 3 of the things on that list were gone within the month. Actually, now in March, almost everything on that list has changed. Those however many versions of miss Experience I will never get back again, ever again. It’s like a light bulb moment to something that was sooo obvious. Don’t get me wrong similar experiences may arise, but it would never be the exact same unless we somehow introduced time travel to the picture!

Relationships that God allows are constantly changing with the changing seasons. The good, the bad and the influencer. Relationships span across the entirety of our lives, familial, romantic, work, educational, spiritual, and friendships, and each has its season and its own version of miss Experience we need to learn from. Some would last a lifetime, family, best friends (IJN) but every other one can last from 1 hr to a decade. Now one hour with some can sound so little and insignificant, but if that one hour has been destined to teach you something meaningful, you better not waste any seconds of it. It may never come back the same way.

Can I just input, the greatest relationship, that is guaranteed to outlast every redefining season and even outlast the season of death is the relationship with Jesus Christ. Start that today if you haven’t.

Beingfaithfullyspeckled is a season that I have been on for a while, it probably isn’t one I am being diligent with if I’m being honest, but it is probably my most important season so far. Beingfaithfullyspeckled refers to my speckled skin and everything that spins off from that reality; it is an umbrella big season that has lasted my entire adult life so far. I do experience smaller seasons within the bigger season, and the smaller season I am experiencing right now, I didn’t like one bit. But like every other teacher out there, you don’t need to like them to learn from them, but…

The season that I am in now, started off as definitely the most confusing I’ve been in, and hopefully will ever be in. With God being God, he has ways of reminding me of some things I should be dealing with, healing from, learning and letting go of in this season, but with me being me, I had ways of ignoring these reminders or trying to find shortcuts for them. This expectantly says a lot about my weak human frame and mind, but it also says a lot more about what I’m doing, (well not doing) to strengthen this human frame and mind. Back when I was confused and did not like this season, it had a lot to do with me fighting Miss Experience, instead of learning from her. This is singlehandedly the biggest waste of time, cos experience doesn’t fight, she is a lady, she only knows how to teach, so in essence, I was fighting myself, and my own progress. Let me explain how dumb and futile this is; I am human, which means I don’t know the next minute, but for some interesting reason, I think I know the experience, character and lessons I need for my future, and I’m here trying to pick and choose, like really Faith 😏, make it make sense.

I think one thing I am thankful for, was realising I should stop fighting Miss Experience. Unfortunately tho, I gear myself up to just let go, relinquish control, completely all at once and let life be led by God but then fall back into my patterns. Patterns of overthinking, trying to control things and not wanting to experience any form of discomfort and disregarding the lessons that are locked within such experiences. If you remember from the beingfaithfullyspeckled 2022 post, this was one of the things I had to change my approach to, now we are on a steady, 1% at a time pace with miss experience. Annoyingly life is set up to teach you a lot from discomfort and unpleasant situations, so I was doing myself a massive disservice avoiding these.

Imagine gold (one of my names is actually Gold 😭), saying it doesn’t want to go through fire because it’s hot, well DUHHHH! It will never get to learn what it means to shine so beautifully, and be so damn expensive and sort after. It would just be a disregarded stone.

6 So be truly glad.[a] There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. (NLT)

6 May the thought of this cause you to jump for joy,[a] even though lately you’ve had to put up with the grief of many trials.[b] 7 But these only reveal the sterling core[c] of your faith, which is far more valuable than gold that perishes, for even gold is refined by fire. Your authentic faith will result in even more praise, glory, and honor when Jesus the Anointed One is revealed. (TPT)

1 peter 1:6-7 

So the simple point I’ve been trying to make since the beningging is this; When ‘YOU SAY SEASONS, I WANT TO HEAR STRENGTHENING’ whether good or bad, there is strength in everything we go through. And if you go through the fire, “there is another in the fire, standing next to me” (listen to Another in the fire -Hillsong united). The thing is when God is with you, you wouldn’t even look like you were just engulfed by fire, instead, you would be preserved and freshened in that same fire. Remember Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Dan 3:16-28. One of my Fave verses happens to be Dan 3:25, cos as for fire, I think I have had a few shares.

The FIRE could be a sign of God’s FAITHFULNESS

Pst. Mike Todd

So like my earlier examples, in the season of weight manipulation, learn to strengthen your physical body, your mind against junk temptation and your heart against negative self-talk. For the seasons of exams and tests, learn perseverance, learn self-control, learn diligence and strengthen your brain cells too. Shortcuts will deprive you of these lessons and opportunities for strength. Don’t do that to your future self, he/she is rooting for you to do your best in this season. To do the best you can HERE and NOW.

You can’t look at a mirror on the run, you have to stay there long enough.

Pst. Mike Todd

Another important point, stick to your lane. Don’t covet the seasons of others, our experiences and life lesson is tailored to us. Miss Experience has a personal curriculum for each person and not doing the due diligence in yours and trying to do it in someone else’s is point blank mumu behaviour. See the Sun and the moon produce light, but they have completely different lanes, imagine if one day the Sun says it wants to move to Moon Lane and do the moon’s job. Yall it would be chaotic. The Sun doesn’t complain that it goes down when it does and comes up when it does, it stays in its lane.

Simply put, in terms of solutions, although it is easier said than done I will still say it. Honestly just go through your own seasons, lets be frank, there might be tears on some days, but avoid shortcuts at all costs and evaluate and embrace every experience with open arms and pen to hand, take notes, take notesssss Actually, when I think about it, it can be as easy as that, let’s not do the human thing of overcomplicating what isn’t, but when it does get hard, there is God.

You know, there is a good reason we grow in age, it would be dumb being 20and not having the lessons and skills you should’ve learnt at age 10, and then trying to catch up.

Disclaimer: I am still learning to manoeuvre my current season, just taking you along on the ride with me.

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