TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON

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“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

Nothing is ever permanent except God, His Word, and His promises. No matter what we experience or come up against in our lives, it is absolutely vital that we learn to embrace God’s perspective on permanent and temporary things and understand His purpose for establishing the seasons. In His word, God promises us that all seasons have a beginning and an end. In Genesis 8:22, God spoke to Noah and said that, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night, shall not cease.” With this verse of scripture, God introduces the idea of the seasons, and He is saying to us that while on this earth, and until the end of time, His concept of the “seasons” will remain.

A season is defined as a period of time characterized by a certain set of conditions. God created the seasons, and it is very likely that when He created man, He had the seasons in mind. He designed and framed the world so that we would live our lives constantly moving out of one season and into the next. While some seasons bring weeping, others bring joy; and some seasons bring war, while others bring peace, but what remains true about every season, is that they are temporary, and each season brings with it an element of change.

In 2 Timothy 4:2, the Bible refers to an “in season” and an “out of season.” This is not just a reference to favorable and unfavorable conditions, but an indication that no matter where we are in life, with God we are always in “a” season. And because God defines the seasons (Acts 1:7), even when conditions seem to be unfavorable, every season must have a purpose and a value! When we look at this season through the lens of the word, we realized that what we call a crisis is truthfully not a crisis at all, but just a temporary season masking itself as a permanent condition. This COVID 19 crisis is just another season, a period of time characterized by a set of conditions that are subject to the name of Jesus and subject to change!

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
In the fashion world there are two major seasons, summer/spring and fall/winter. When a designer refers to an item as being “out of season,” they are really saying that it is not for the current season that they are in. If an item is not for the summer/spring season, then it must be suitable for the fall/winter season. But as time progresses, one thing is for sure, the quality of the item itself doesn’t change, but the fashion season eventually will.

In this metaphor, God is like that item. He does not change, but the seasons do (Matt 24:35). One thing that is never seasonal is the provision of the love God. This is especially important if we consider the season we are facing as a people, as a state, and as a nation. The season that we are in has been plagued by the crisis of COVID-19 and it has caused significant hardships for many people; unemployment, poverty, and unfortunately, sickness and death. This has caused some to question and even doubt the love of God for humanity. But the faithfulness of God to His people has NOT changed! And His love for humanity has never been tainted by the conditions of man or the conditions of a season that man was in.

When God declared the seasons, He also guaranteed change; and with the guarantee of change, He guaranteed us hope! No matter how cold it is in the winter, we can be certain that summer will come. No matter how dark it is at night, if we endure, daybreak is always near (Psalm 30:5). (Marques Farmer)

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“I choose to embrace God’s perspective in every season. God gives me hope and expectation that with Him unfavorable conditions are always subject to change. I refuse to make permanent decisions in what God defines as a temporary season!”

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

    • Old Testament: 2 Samuel 11-12; Psalms 111
    • New Testament: Mark 14:43-52; Galatians 2

TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON