SEASONS IN OUR LIVES
The book of Ecclesiastes points out that there is a time (or season) for everything . This morning let’s look at this scripture and examine the importance of what it’s saying about our lives.
Today our subject for discussion is ... “seasons of our lives“.
What’s the purpose of today’s topic? our purpose today is three fold.
1. to define what a season is and how it is
significant to our lives.
2. to examine what happens when we miss a
season in our lives .
3. to examine what happens when we get ahead
of a season for our lives.
Our foundational scripture is Ecclesiastes 3:1 - 4. (it refers to times, which are seasons) .it reads..”to everything 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 (harvest) that which is planted; “
Let’s look at seasons in nature to get a general idea of how seasons work.. in nature, things come forth, grow and fulfill their purpose and die. Notice that winter and spring are times of preparation. In the winter the ground gets very cold or freezes, which kills germs or bacteria that could be harmful to crops. Plants that have died, during the previous season, decay and help replenish nourishment the soil. Then as the late winter and early spring comes, the soil is plowed and made ready, seeds are planted, nurtured and grow... then in summer and fall, crops mature and are harvested. the farmers then sell the crops for money and use the money to support their families and enjoy the good things of life.
So, what is a season? For our purposes, a season in our life is a time frame that has been allotted for something to happen.
Again let me point out that God has so arranged it that things here in the earth and in our lives operate in seasons. We can depend on this because He tells us so in Genesis 8:22. The scripture reads...”While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest (seasons) and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” this scripture also gives us a basic description of seasons. We can gather from this scripture that seasons are basically divided into two types... seasons of seedtime (preparation) and seasons of harvest (reaping from what has been sewn during the season of seed time).
From our example we also know that during a season, things around us are orchestrated in such a manner that our efforts are supported.
Back to our example of the farmer.... his goal is to produce a large crop of something, sell it, and receive a lot of money for it. We see that he cannot however; get to the money until he properly goes through the seasons required to produce a crop to harvest. also , as he goes through each season, he must do the right things... (cultivate the soil , fertilize etc.) otherwise, he won’t successfully produce a crop that will bring him the money he desires.
So it is in our lives. when we desire to be successful, we must observe the seasons that we are to go through and perform properly (do the right thing) as we pass through each.
Here is a life example. a young high school graduate desires to live a successful life. as he stands looking toward the future, he is very much aware of the many options that face him. He could hang out with the home boys, chase women, get a job, or further his education so that he can create the necessary financial foundation on which he can build a successful life. He realizes that he is now in his season of preparation so, he decides to continue his education. (Remember we said that when we operate within a season, things are set up to work with us.) Back to our example, the young man wants to continue his education. because of his age and intentions, banks and others are willing to lend or even give him money to pay the expense of his education. Other interested parties are even willing to give him money to cover his personal expenses, so he doesn’t have to work and can devote all his time to study. Some organizations are even willing to invest in his potential by providing summer employment for him. {Through all this our young man applies himself and works really hard and, at the end of the season, receives his degree and is well on his way to having a financially successful future.
2. What happens when we miss a season. basically you don’t have the wind at your back, helping to blow you in the direction that you’re trying to go. Lets look at our same young man and what his life would have been like if he‘d missed his season of preparation. . Instead of choosing to continue his education, he decides to wait a while, get a job... in order to have some money in his pocket , buy some nice clothes and a nice car. For right now he decides to just hang out with the fellows, shoot a little ball at the gym, hang out at the clubs and chase some fly honeys. This is all fun until one day he wakes up and finds that he’s 30 years old, married, has two kids and is stuck in the same low paying job that he started after high school. He realizes that he needs to do something better but, in order to... he needs to further his education . Now , our young man has missed his proper season of preparation. yes, he can go back and get further training or education but look at the things around him. they’re not necessarily working to help him with this. Furthering his education will cost a substantial amount of money. Those people who would have been willing to help pay for his education are probably not there anymore. The people who would have been willing to provide living expenses so he wouldn’t have to work are probably not there any more. So the burden of paying for this additional education is on him. Since things are already financially tight with he and his family, either he or his wife , or both of them , will have to take on 2nd jobs to help pay for this additional education.
Going to school will require that our young man spend a lot of time studying. If he isn’t very careful, between work and school, his quality family time is going to be very scarce. This might cause problems within the family.
Then, the young man’s wife just might not be agreeable and understanding toward his desire to further his education for the sake of the family.
3. What happens when we get ahead of a season of god in in life? if you’ll look at genesis 15 through 18 you’ll find the story of Abraham and Sarah. God promises, in spite of their old age, that Sarah will become pregnant and have a son. They were happy but doubtful. So , they decided to get ahead of God - to get ahead of their season. of course we know that Sarah gave Abraham her slave girl, who he impregnated with a son. But then.... the true season of God came to pass and, sarah became pregnant and gave birth to a son... and suddenly there was jealously and friction between the two sons and the mothers. A struggle began that we see still today in the ugly conflict between Muslims - Jews and the western world. So when we get ahead of seasons of god , in our lives, we can open ourselves and our lives to hurt and permanent damage.
So, in review... today we’ve learned ...
1.that seasons are time frames that are allotted
for something to happen in our lives.
2. we’ve also learned that in order to take
advantage of the benefits that a season has
for us, we need to ask god to show us the
right things to do during the season ,and
then do them.
3. we learned that when we miss a season, or
get ahead of a season in our lives, we run the
risk of not ever being able to capture all the
things that were ment for us to acquire during
that season and we run the risk of sustaining
personal hurt and damage to our lives that can’t
be reversed.
