Happy New Year once again! Join me on a quick journey. This might seem long, but I promise it will be quick. Grab a seat and enjoy!
The new year always brings talk of new goals, resolutions, and changing of old priorities in hopes for a better life. The new year brings a season of hope and possibility. I believe for the most part resolutions are made with great intentions. However, what happens once this season passes? Once the newness of the year has faded, and all the decorations are put away, what then? We settle back into the busyness of day to day life, and often our resolutions become a passing memory of woulda-coulda-shouldas and maybe next year. My point of this chat with you today is not to talk about resolutions. It's to talk about our seasons in life. You see we all experience seasons in life, just as we experience seasons of the year.
There are four seasons in each year. Winter, Spring, Summer & Fall. Each marked with specific dates and conditions, depending on where you live. I live in North Carolina, so sometimes in the winter it snows...and subsequently everyone then rushes to the store to grab bread and milk- much like the Hostess Twinkie Apocalypse of 2012. No kidding! However, on other winter days we rush around wearing flip flops and shorts because it's 60* outside. You learn to expect the unexpected here in the south. And while some would say we never really get a Spring (except for the two weeks a year my car is covered in yellow), we do have four distinct seasons. It ranges from cold to sometimes extremely hot and humid. I -for one- am thankful for the seasons. It gives you something to look forward to. In the sweaty summer with a/c blasting we dream about having a white Christmas. Yet, when it's frigid and Jack Frost is nipping at our noses, we wonder when sweet summer time will be back again! I think as humans we can never be truly satisfied with whatever season we are in! We either look back on the previous season with longing or we look ahead for the next with hurried anticipation. We don't like to experience any season in which we are not completely comfortable. And let's face it there aren't many days in which everyone would agree it is completely perfect. Except of course for my favorite time of year -in the fall- when I can turn off my heat AND A/C and have all my windows open to let the wind blow freely throughout the house. Ahhhhhh, but I digress... :)
I have to admit I've thought quite a bit about time and seasons over the last several months if not years. I'm always curious as to how God's timetable works. Aren't you? God tells us that 1 day with Him is like 1,000 years and 1,000 years is as 1 day (2 Peter 3:8, Psalm 90:4). Wow. I'll let you ponder that later, but let's get back to seasons. In Ecclesiastes here the writer tells us that to everything there is a season.
Be ready in season and out of season. Another version says it this way, "be instant in season, out of season". While I know the scope of this passage is referring to Timothy's ministry, I'd like to take a look at the broader idea of seasons.
Have you ever gone to an after Christmas sale? You know the ones where everything is 50-75% off everything? I LOVE these sales. I have gained so many discount rolls of Christmas wrapping paper it's not even funny. I cannot stand to pay full price for something. So, I used to go out right after Christmas and score some awesome finds for cheap $$. Now, I didn't always do this. I used to think people who did that were a little nutty. Here's why. Christmas was over, why would I want to go out and buy something I'm not going to use for 11 more months? Why would I want that sitting in my closet all year? Why indeed. As I've learned over the years, I would much rather prepare at a lesser cost for the next year than to pay more than I needed to. Oh my, somebody just got a revelation! So let me say that again. In order to be prepared for the next season, I would rather pay a lesser cost now than to have to pay a greater cost later! I am preparing to go into the next [Christmas] season by getting what I need now. (You really don't know what I'm talking about unless you've wrapped a gift in 90% off cost wrapping paper!) And if you are going to pay the price either way, wouldn't you want the cost to be lesser for your preparation?
I don't know about you but this is a great revelation to me! Sometimes I think we believe that we need to hurry up and get to the next season in our lives, when in actuality we are in the preparation season now. You might ask, well I feel like I've been in this same season for 10 years! Here's the continuation of our chapter in Ecclesiastes 3...
Whatever season you may be praying about, hoping for, etc...do you truly believe that you are ready out of season? I can hear Bishop T.D. Jakes right now, "Get ready, get ready, get ready!" Are you thankful for what you have in this moment, in this season? Is HE enough? I have to search my own heart and ask myself these questions. Have I made HIM enough? Have I truly put all my hopes and dreams and trust in HIM? Do I truly believe HE will never fail me? Trust is a whole other blog, which I may get to at some point, but know that GOD IS FAITHFUL. HE is not a man that HE should lie. HE loves you. HE died for you. HE wants to restore you no matter which season you are in. TRUST HIM. Trust that whatever season HE has placed you in- you are there for a purpose.
I have to admit I've thought quite a bit about time and seasons over the last several months if not years. I'm always curious as to how God's timetable works. Aren't you? God tells us that 1 day with Him is like 1,000 years and 1,000 years is as 1 day (2 Peter 3:8, Psalm 90:4). Wow. I'll let you ponder that later, but let's get back to seasons. In Ecclesiastes here the writer tells us that to everything there is a season.
"There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—
A time to give birth and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear 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 throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to be silent and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate;A time for war and a time for peace." ~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NASB
To everything there is a season and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven: Now if you are like me you think way too much about things...and I have a feeling I know what some of you may be thinking. Well if there is a season for everything, then when is MY season going to come? I ask this question about certain things in my life. Have you ever asked that question? Have you ever wondered, when God when? When will my family member get saved? When will my loved one get off drugs/alcohol? When will HE restore my marriage? When will HE bring us a child? When will HE heal my body? When will I get a job? When will HE send a mate, a companion? When will my ministry begin? When are you coming back LORD? These are just a few of the questions I have heard and discussed with others over the last several months. There are countless other questions I'm sure you and I both have. Here is my point. NOW is the time to LIVE, even out of season.
While we are wringing our hands over -let's face it- things we really cannot do anything about, life is passing us by-and quickly! There is so much to do and yet so little time left to do it in. No one knows when Christ will return, but my friends, He comes quickly! I have been convicted of doing this very thing. My attention and focus was not on the right things. Instead of focusing on the questions like where God? and when God? I needed to shift my eyes back to HIM and say, "What LORD?" What would you have me do? Not: what are YOU going to do for me, God! Yes, maybe instead we can say, "LORD, Here am I...here is your servant" God has already done enough. If salvation alone is my blessing, then I am blessed to the fullest. I have received the greatest gift that will ever be given. I have been set free, redeemed, and that is more than enough.
I came across this passage of scripture earlier in my reading, and I really believe this is a great word for today. It spoke greatly to me, and I pray it will become alive in your spirit as well. Here Paul is writing to Timothy about his ministry.
While we are wringing our hands over -let's face it- things we really cannot do anything about, life is passing us by-and quickly! There is so much to do and yet so little time left to do it in. No one knows when Christ will return, but my friends, He comes quickly! I have been convicted of doing this very thing. My attention and focus was not on the right things. Instead of focusing on the questions like where God? and when God? I needed to shift my eyes back to HIM and say, "What LORD?" What would you have me do? Not: what are YOU going to do for me, God! Yes, maybe instead we can say, "LORD, Here am I...here is your servant" God has already done enough. If salvation alone is my blessing, then I am blessed to the fullest. I have received the greatest gift that will ever be given. I have been set free, redeemed, and that is more than enough.
I came across this passage of scripture earlier in my reading, and I really believe this is a great word for today. It spoke greatly to me, and I pray it will become alive in your spirit as well. Here Paul is writing to Timothy about his ministry.
"I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry". ~2 Timothy 4: 1-5 NASB
Be ready in season and out of season. Another version says it this way, "be instant in season, out of season". While I know the scope of this passage is referring to Timothy's ministry, I'd like to take a look at the broader idea of seasons.
Have you ever gone to an after Christmas sale? You know the ones where everything is 50-75% off everything? I LOVE these sales. I have gained so many discount rolls of Christmas wrapping paper it's not even funny. I cannot stand to pay full price for something. So, I used to go out right after Christmas and score some awesome finds for cheap $$. Now, I didn't always do this. I used to think people who did that were a little nutty. Here's why. Christmas was over, why would I want to go out and buy something I'm not going to use for 11 more months? Why would I want that sitting in my closet all year? Why indeed. As I've learned over the years, I would much rather prepare at a lesser cost for the next year than to pay more than I needed to. Oh my, somebody just got a revelation! So let me say that again. In order to be prepared for the next season, I would rather pay a lesser cost now than to have to pay a greater cost later! I am preparing to go into the next [Christmas] season by getting what I need now. (You really don't know what I'm talking about unless you've wrapped a gift in 90% off cost wrapping paper!) And if you are going to pay the price either way, wouldn't you want the cost to be lesser for your preparation?
I don't know about you but this is a great revelation to me! Sometimes I think we believe that we need to hurry up and get to the next season in our lives, when in actuality we are in the preparation season now. You might ask, well I feel like I've been in this same season for 10 years! Here's the continuation of our chapter in Ecclesiastes 3...
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men’s hearts and minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to get and do good as long as they live;
And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.
I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it. And God does it so that men will [reverently] fear Him [revere and worship Him, knowing that He is].
That which is now already has been, and that which is to be already has been; and God seeks that which has passed by [so that history repeats itself]." ~Ecclesiastes 3:11-15 AMPGod will make all things beautiful in HIS time, not ours. When we get frustrated by thoughts of seasons -and when they will change- we miss out on what God wants to do in us right now. Perhaps you are in the preparation season, or transition season, or maybe you are full in on your season of purpose right now. Wherever you are, God sees you, and HE knows you. He desires to work all of those things out for your good. Are we focusing on God or are we focusing on what HE is going to do? There is a difference. The Bible says in the NIV version of Hebrews 12:2a "fixing our eyes on Jesus"...it doesn't say to fix our eyes on what Jesus is going to give us, or do for us, or take us from, it says to focus our eyes on HIM.
"Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]." ~Hebrews 12:2a AMPI know it can be argued that that is playing with semantics, but just follow me for a second to where I'm trying to go. We all know the promises of God in the Bible are yes and amen. We know that God is faithful to HIS Word, and if HE promised it then yes of course HE will do it! However, when we have become complacent or discontented, I believe that our vision for this season in our lives is off. I know I've been there. Many times. But God, being the loving and patient Father that HE is, gentle nudges me back to HIM and says rest. Rest in me. "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). That is one of HIS best responses to me when I get wound up in my own hurried timetable. I look at the calendar and remind HIM another year has gone....and well? I know HE is amused by us, and HE knows we are impatient. But I wonder if we would channel our energy into being prepared IN and OUT of season how much more content we could be? Focus on what is truly important: sharing the gospel and the LOVE of Jesus with others. We have a command in the Bible to tell others about Jesus Christ. "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" is known as the Great Commission, not the "Good Suggestion"! Peter reminds us again, to be ready: "But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy [and acknowledge Him] as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully." (1 Peter 3:15 AMP) Our season, whatever that may be, should always be focused on Jesus and sharing HIS love and grace with others.
Whatever season you may be praying about, hoping for, etc...do you truly believe that you are ready out of season? I can hear Bishop T.D. Jakes right now, "Get ready, get ready, get ready!" Are you thankful for what you have in this moment, in this season? Is HE enough? I have to search my own heart and ask myself these questions. Have I made HIM enough? Have I truly put all my hopes and dreams and trust in HIM? Do I truly believe HE will never fail me? Trust is a whole other blog, which I may get to at some point, but know that GOD IS FAITHFUL. HE is not a man that HE should lie. HE loves you. HE died for you. HE wants to restore you no matter which season you are in. TRUST HIM. Trust that whatever season HE has placed you in- you are there for a purpose.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts." ~Isaiah 55:8-9 AMP
God's ways are not our ways, and God's timing is not our timing. Neither are HIS seasons our seasons. But to everything there IS a season. Seasons change and so does life. "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter,
and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22 AMP) There will always be a time to plant the seed, a time to water the seed, to tend to it, and a time to harvest the fields. Each season is important to the next. You cannot skip over any of these seasons and still expect a full harvest. You have to plant the seed in order to have something to harvest; and the seed must be watered and fed if it is going to grow to its' fullest potential. Harvest time can still come for a poorly tended seed, but it may not meet the grower's fullest expectations.
Life happens fast. We are not promised tomorrow, nor a new season. Cherish each day, live each day for HIM. While we are focused on making resolutions and looking with expectation into the new year, let's do something. Let's try to focus on GOD no matter which season we are in. Let's find HIS purpose for where we are right now. Let's be ready IN and OUT of season, for whatever may come. Lean on HIS Word, Trust GOD. Our seasons in life may change, but GOD never does. HE is faithful!
Life happens fast. We are not promised tomorrow, nor a new season. Cherish each day, live each day for HIM. While we are focused on making resolutions and looking with expectation into the new year, let's do something. Let's try to focus on GOD no matter which season we are in. Let's find HIS purpose for where we are right now. Let's be ready IN and OUT of season, for whatever may come. Lean on HIS Word, Trust GOD. Our seasons in life may change, but GOD never does. HE is faithful!
Be Blessed and let's be ready IN and OUT of season!
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