Faith In Every Season Of Life Series

We are continuing in our series on discovering our destiny and our focus this month is on knowing what season we are in. This morning we are going to consider what it means to have faith in every season of life.

The natural seasons are winter, spring, summer and autumn; there are also spiritual seasons in our lives.

The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that every season of life has a purpose. “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet 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)

We will face times of great difficulty and times of great joy. We will experience seasons of hard work and seasons of plenty. God can use each of these seasons of life to teach us something about who He is and how much He loves us.

We may never fully understand what God has planned for us, but our attitude toward life changes when we learn to see good times and bad times as opportunities to grow closer to our Heavenly Father.

As we journey through the seasons of life, we will experience many ups and downs. Perhaps in your own life you have experienced the highs and the lows, maybe right now you are going through something that feels like a ride on a roller coaster.

Have you ever gone for a ride on a real roller coaster? Did you enjoy it?

Roller coasters go up, down, twist, turn, loop and plummet. A ride on a roller coaster is probably over in a couple of minutes; and maybe, for those two minutes, you hold on so tight your knuckles turn white.

You laugh, you scream, you cry, maybe you struggle to get your breath.

Then it’s over. You are safe.

You disembark from the roller coaster and stand on solid ground again. Then one of two things usually happen, either you head back to the end of the queue so that you can do it again. Or you throw up, vow never to be so stupid again and move on.

We all experience ups and downs in our lives. But, as Christians, as disciples of Jesus we do not face them on our own - God is with us. His promise to us is that He will never leave us or forsake us.

What spiritual season are you experiencing now? Do you feel like you are on roller coaster right now? Are you trusting God to help you in the season you are in?

If we put our trust in God, then whatever we are going through, whatever circumstance or situation we are in, whether we feel like we are deep in a valley of despair or on top of a mountain, in good times or bad times, God is with us.

This morning I want us to consider together two passages from the book of Habakkuk. Let me give you a little background to put what we are about to read in context. Habakkuk was the last of the minor prophets to preach in the land of Judah. He prophesied during the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 610 BC and the final Babylonian invasion of Judah in 588 BC.

Judah was the southern kingdom of Israel, during the reign of king Josiah it had experienced a time of peace, prosperity, reform and restoration. During the 31 years that Josiah was King, there was prosperity, stability and spiritual revival. Then Josiah died and his sons took over the throne, and everything changed in Judah.

Judah was a nation in chaos, instead of peace there was violence, people turned against each other and perversion and wickedness spread throughout Judah. Listen to the words of Habakkuk chapter 1:1-4,

This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received in a vision. How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.