TIMING AND DISTANCE Part One.

Teach Us to Number Our Days.

Thomas was the best Mortal Kombat 3 player I knew growing up. I never learned to play the game as well as he did, despite having memorized nearly all the combos and special abilities of every character in the game.

When Thomas played, we were witnessing a master at work—his gameplay was enthralling and ruthless. There were only a handful of people that gave him a run for his money.

Many people knew the rules of the game, knew the skills and strengths of the characters, but two things separated the best players from the rest of the players. Thomas had a habit of repeating them every so often—TIMING AND DISTANCE. The great players knew the exact combos and moves we all knew, but they were masters of WHEN and WHERE to use them.

I’ve come to find that a lot of success in life, business, ministry, and what have you, greatly depends on TIMING AND DISTANCE too.

Timing, here, refers to the ability to discern WHEN to make a move. It is the ability to discern the different phases a game is in and the tactics to adjust to in said phase. Some of the most successful people in history were first movers—they discerned the future of industries and established themselves in said spaces ahead of everyone else. In addition, Forex or Stock traders make or lose millions on their ability to discern when to buy or sell.

I have seen many people endure misery and remain fruitless by remaining in environments (jobs, relationships, churches, or businesses for example) they should have left years ago, or made the right move prematurely and fail terribly. Correct timing is an absolute necessity for lasting and great success. We must seek to have the ability to discern times and what to do in those times, like the Sons of Issachar in Scripture [1 Chronicles 12:32].

How can we learn to become better at TIMING?

1. Learn from history: you are almost always guaranteed to have people who have already gone through what you are going through. Find their stories, and learn from them. There’s nothing new under the sun.

2. The Counsel of the Wise: We all need mentors and people that hold us accountable—people that have gone through similar experiences that we have and have achieved things we aspire to. Never be too proud to ask for advice. You’d be surprised at how blinded we can all be even to the simplest of mistakes in our perception, logic and thinking.

3. Most importantly, learn to seek the counsel of God. Every Christian has the promise of the leading of the Holy Spirit and the Counsel of Scripture in their lives. I have countless testimonies in my own life and the lives of many others around me of Divine Direction. Learn to humbly seek God’s direction in prayer before making decisions.

Let, then, our desire and prayer be that of Moses:
“So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12