Understanding The Times

Understanding the times we are in is so crucial to our walk with God, our Christian faith, our preparation and readiness for Christ when He returns.

In 1 Chronicles 12:23-32, the Bible gives us a list of men that were equipped for war, these were men that came to David to help him turn over the kingdom of Saul to him. The sons of Judah numbered 6800, the sons of Simeon 7100, the sons of Levi 4600. We also had distinguished men like Jehoiada, a leader, and Zadok, a valiant warrior. The sons of Benjamin who were 3000 in number were not left out of the list, so also the 20800 sons of Ephraim and the 18000 men that made up the half tribe of Manasseh. If you total all these men, they were over 60,000. The record of the sons of Isaachar came after these over 60,000 men earlier mentioned. The record of the sons of Issachar was completely different from these men. The over 60,000 men mentioned in 1 Chronicles 12:23-32 were ready to go to battle which is good, but it’s not enough. We must not only be listed in the Lord’s army, we must have understanding of the times. The sons of Issachar stood out from all others because they were the only ones that the understanding of the times were attributed to; they were the only ones who had discerning minds to know what was happening at the time in question and knew the appropriate steps to take or things to do in line with the times they were in. This goes to show that spiritual understanding is rare; it is in the heart and mind of just a few people. I pray that in our own generation, you and I will be part of the few that move and walk with spiritual understanding of the times we are in.

It’s no longer news that there is a virus that has affected virtually everything in our world today. We know about the coronavirus because of the effect it has had on every aspect of our lives in the last couple of weeks. The virus has caused major disruptions to our daily lives; schools have been closed down, large gatherings prohibited, movements restrained, events cancelled, borders closed to prevent the spread of the virus. For a vast majority, the income they had hoped to receive from certain jobs, businesses and programs have been cut off. In other words, all the 7 Pillars of society: religion, family, government, business, education, media, arts and entertainment have been affected by the coronavirus. If you don’t understand the times, all you may be doing at this time is washing your hands, using hand sanitizer and avoiding crowded places to protect yourself from getting the coronavirus virus when there’s so much more God wants you to do besides following the necessary health precautions. Don’t get me wrong, following safety measures to curtail the virus is wonderful, but is that all God wants us to do in the times we are in?

If you don’t understand the times we are in, then you won’t know what you should be doing at this present time. You could end up doing nothing or the wrong thing, you could do something that could have a negative effect on you, or you could waste this present opportunity. Every time, every season comes with its own opportunities. For the present times we are in, if we don’t understand it, we can easily miss out on what God is calling out to us to remember, pay attention to, do, stop, change, let go of, hold onto and improve in our personal lives and families, in the body of Christ, in our nation and the nations of the world. Without understanding of the times, opportunities are wasted. Without understanding of the times, people live foolishly instead of wisely (Ephesians 5:17).

This is why we need to be praying this prayer at such a time as this:

PRAYER: LORD, PLEASE I DON’T WANT TO LIVE FOOLISHLY; I DON’T WANT TO BE DEVOID OF SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING, GRANT ME UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES. GRANT ME, MY FAMILY, THE CHURCH OF GOD AND OUR LEADERS UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES SO WE KNOW WHAT WE OUGHT TO BE DOING.

How can one have an understanding of the times we are in?

It’s simple. By placing what is happening in these times alongside the Word of God not just viewing it from the news perspective or from opinions being circulated on social media. Your Bible must be so close to you at this time, much closer than your phone or IPad to get the latest update on the coronavirus. It’s not just enough to read or listen to the news, we must go to the Word of God.