THE WOES OF THE APPOINTED TIME

 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

A beautiful frustrated young woman struggling with the appointed time / Photo Courtesy / Andrea Piacquadio

Discomforts in Time

The appointed time has a way of making people feel uncomfortable. People feel uncomfortable because the appointed time has no definite date. In fact, in most occasions. No one knows when is the appointed time. During this time of living or waiting for the appointed time. Something is usually happening to someone. The appointed time not only test one’s patience but also the ability to stay still. When nothing significant is taking place. These two qualities of the appointed time are the most difficult to practice.  Because a typical normal human being in modern life, has a problem with remaining still. So far, many people in modern life do not know the importance of patience. Majority of us still struggle with this virtue. We struggle because patience is hard. It is hard to wait on something you don’t know when it will exactly happen.

There are some elements of uncertainty in the appointed time. And many of us have a problem with that. There is something that lack of clarity does to people. Some people gradually begin to develop an attitude. They develop a negative attitude towards the appointed time. In the process of waiting for something to happen. Some hearts turn toxic. The hearts turn because some people get tired. People get tired waiting for something they cannot see. And in the process begin to hate the appointed time. People develop a bad attitude towards it because they don’t know how to be patient. People who end up this way. Fail to understand the demands of a waiting season. Their impatience results in frustrations, which further escalate to more hatred and bitterness.

Yet, that is not what the appointed time is all about. Yes, the appointed time has uncertainty. Yes, there are some delays. However, the uncertainty and delays are not the point. The point is what someone is becoming in the appointed time. The presence of patience in an appointed time has meaning. That meaning manifests when you allow the appointed time to run its course. The appointed time is slow. Moreover, the appointed time is also when nothing meaningful is taking place. The things that you need are not occurring at your pace or not happening at all. This is exactly where frustrations come in the picture. When people learn that whatever they were looking forward to. Might not take place based on their timeline or projections. And this means that. If they must end up with what you need.

Work with the Owner

A hard working man struggling to wait / Photo / Ketut Subiyanto

You will have to wait. And that waiting part is the problem. Most people hate waiting. They loathe standing in the line. Because pop culture has conditioned people to be on the go. Most of us are used to picking and going. But these are not the characteristics of an appointed time. In the season of waiting. You don’t order and pick immediately or after a short time. In the season of the appointed time. You order and wait. The waiting on itself is very clear. There is no uncertainty in waiting because someone heard you. Your order was recorded. And there is intentional commitment to fulfill it. And your only responsibility in that moment is trust the process. Not panic. But trust. Because let us be clear. The appointed time has an owner. And the owner is fully qualified for a time like that.

Therefore, when you end up in the appointed time season. You either work with the owner or repel the owner. But either way. The appointed time has a waiting period. A period when patience is needed. And while practicing that patience. Your biggest task will be to trust the owner. The period calls you to be still. And let your order to go through the due process needed. When you interpret the waiting season this way. Patience begins to take its effects. Patience is supposed to work on your emotions. To calm you down. And keep you focused on what matters. Patience in this season teaches you that, being still is your best friend. Not panicking is your strength. And when you allow the appointed time. To manifest as it was originally designed. It shapes you into something you will appreciate.

Patience teaches you never to go ahead of the owner. The owner owns the entire process. The owner knows when it will happen. The owner also knows the type of work your order needs before it is eventually packaged. In most occasions. The waiting in the appointed time is supposed to let you know, that someone is working. A lot of work is going on behind the scene. And as a result, you need to remain calm and wait. Quality takes time. Meeting every element of best practices takes time. Compliance takes time. Achieving the best and right standards demand liaison from various departments and regulatory bodies. Departments that you have no knowledge of. Thus, the delay. But everything takes time for your own good. So the best thing you can during an appointed time is to wait.

Trust the owner and be still. Allow the best practices inside the appointed time to fix your attitude. Stand long enough. Trust long enough. Be still long enough. And before you know it. Your order will be fulfilled. That is what patience does in a waiting season. It teaches you to stand long enough without getting negative. Because in the waiting period. There are a lot of things you can do. Like learning how to trust. Like not getting emotionally involved with everything. A waiting period teaches you how to prevent your heart from turning toxic. At a point when you have all the reasons to lose it. But patience teaches restraint. And lets you know that you will not always have it your way. And when that happens. You don’t have to lose your mind. When things don’t go your way. You don’t start throwing tantrums.

Mature Up a Little Bit

And this is not to deny that waiting is hard / Photo Courtesy / Cottonbro Studio

Instead, mature up a little bit and learn endurance. Have some confidence. Someone heard you. Whatever you need will be supplied as you envisioned it. Don’t get frustrated and lose opportunities. Calm down. The appointed time is the right time. Whatever you asked for, will happen. And this is not to deny that waiting is hard. Waiting is indeed, hard in real-time. Developing the needed patience is also hard. In fact, there is nothing easy inside the appointed time. The appointed time is the time of difficult decisions. You have to choose between falling part or remaining whole. You have to decide that you will endure. And come to terms with the lack of clarity and uncertainty. And still conclude that you will wait. That you will remain calm. And allow the waiting season to shape you into the right person. A person fit for the appointed time.

The person fit for the appointed time is a learner. He/she agrees with the various discomforts found inside the appointed time. But still chooses the right attitude. There is something good that patience does to us in the waiting period. When nothing good is happening around you. Patience still convinces you to remain calm. Because in calmness. There is clarity. The full picture of the season comes into full play. And you begin to see the layers, which needed to be shed off. And unless you ended up with a period, which tested your whole being. You could have missed the weakness. The waiting period teaches you the kind of person you are; when the things you love or appreciate are missing. If the appointed time does not turn you into bitterness. Then, you are the right person. You got the message of the season.

The appointed time did not occur to expose you. Instead, the period came because you needed it. You needed a moment like that to remind you that there is still a child in you. One that screams when things don’t go his or her way. You needed the uncertainty to help you level up. The appointed time needed to teach you the qualities of real-life. Real-life is not a straight line. Real-life is a roller coaster. And some times. Things do not go your way. Things not happening according to plan is normal life. Delays occur. Technical problems happen. Black outs happen. That is real-life.

And you need to get that reality in mind. Things will not always pan out the way you want. Calm the child in you down. Stewardship rather than emotions is needed here. See clearly. And do that which you loathe. Trust someone during the appointed time. Things might delay. But they are not denied. The appointed time is the right time. Trust the process. Someone is hard at work for your own good. Go past frustrations.  And become the right person. I love this comment that best summarizes the waiting season correctly. Someone said, “Some things cannot be forced without losing meaning. The right time may test our patience, but frustration can become wisdom. Be still. And become.”