To everything there is a season

To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Ecclesiastes' most famous passage reminds me that there is an appropriate time for so many opposing actions in life, without spelling out for the reader what those may be. 

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. 

This passage is eloquent and beautiful about the times, but does not offer guidance on discerning the times. This leaves us with people who read the times differently: Is it a time to kill or a time to heal? Is it a time to weep or a time to laugh? A time to keep silence or a time to speak? 

I'm looking for more wisdom on that point, and the first step I have spotted is what Paul once said to the church in Corinth: 

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things are not edifying. Let no man seek his own, but every man another's prosperity. ... So whether you eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Give offence to none: neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God: Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking my own benefit, but the benefit of many, that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31-33)

If I am looking to justify myself, I have the easy job of finding a way to justify myself since most things have their season. If I am looking to seek the glory of God, give offense to none, and seek the benefit of others in general, I have a more difficult job. This keeps a godly restraint on the tendency to read the times to justify myself, instead of conducting myself to redeem the times.