Just as each year brings the change of seasons, life is full of seasons as well, and all of them are sent to bring newness our way. Ecclesiastes 3:1(ESV) tells us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” Every facet of life transpires and expires on earth according to a particular timing, and this is sometimes a very challenging truth for many of us to accept. Like the rest of society, we want things on the double, and on the surface, it feels as though our impatience has pushed and accelerated the pace of life. In truth, God’s purpose drives everything that we experience and witness. Ecclesiastes 3:17(ESV) declares, “for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” This helps us to keep our eyes open to the season we’re in. God has a purpose for it, and if we’ll be diligent to seek and humble ourselves before Him, He will reveal unimaginable treasures for our lives.
Many of us are waiting on the next season, and we’re quite bored or unsatisfied with the one we’re in. We might feel that we’ve milked it for all it’s worth, and it’s time to move on. With a weather season—winter, spring, summer, or fall—90 or so days, and it’s a wrap. We can count on seasonal changes in the weather like clockwork, but with seasons of growth and blessings, only God can set the purpose and timing of those. So, if we feel as though we’re stuck in our current place, we can almost guarantee that there are a few lessons that God has woven in this season that still need to be learned.
Sacrifice
One of those lessons is about sacrifice. Hebrews 9:22(ESV) tells us, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” There’s life in the blood; without it running throughout our veins, our bodies would only be a lifeless shell. In the very beginning, way before anything existed, God decreed the cleansing ability of blood. During the Law Administration, before Jesus Christ came to the earth, God’s people had to offer the blood sacrifices of animals as a way of covering their sins before Him. The blood of animals could not cleanse their sins or save them, so animal sacrifices were a temporary fix. The blood of Christ cleansed our sins for all eternity.
Hebrews 9:23-24(NLT) says, “23 That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals. 24 For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf.” The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is a lasting reminder of his incredible love for us all. Through Christ, God set the benchmark for love, and no other individual or force in all of time and history is able to do what God has done.
Jesus Christ is our example. God commands us in Ephesians 5:2(NLT), “Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.” Sacrifice is necessary, and it is a huge mistake to overlook this. Life will call upon us to give up certain things, because sacrifice is the way that God has given us to make room for more.
Many of us pray and pray and pray for marriage. We’ve longed to cross paths with our future husbands, but we have not yet proven the degree to which we truly desire the thing we’ve prayed to receive. We have to know that the devil will test this; he will try to present the case that our hearts are not in it because we are not backing our faith. 1Peter 2:21(NLT) says, “For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.” Again, Jesus Christ taught us that sacrifice is necessary. Anything worth having is worth the sacrifice required to secure it. We must understand this. We must also pray and seek God for direction as we dedicate ourselves to make sacrifices and give up things that do not please Him or serve us well.
Reverence
Another extremely important lesson of every season is greater reverence and honor towards God. In the secret places of our minds and hearts, those of us that have longed and prayed for a while may be asking, “What is it, Lord? Why is it taking so long?” To answer those questions, we must consider that a failure to grow in our reverence for our Heavenly Father may be the problem. It will cause us to miss the very opportunity that positions us to receive. Right reverence for God is the key that unlocks the hidden treasures of life. It is the root of Godly character, the foundation to all our happiness, and it brings us in harmony with His Will. Many of us behave as if we don’t know this. We will go to seminars, read tons of books, go on and sign up for websites, all in an effort to capture the thing that is going to connect us with what we desire most. It’s all pointless if we fail to acknowledge God with the reverence and honor that He desires and deserves.
Secretly, some of us have persuaded ourselves that God is not as awesomely good and perfect as His Word tells us. We believe He has withheld the blessing of marriage, and that He is punishing us with the wait. In the unseen chambers of our hearts, we blame God for our unhappiness, and we believe He has shortchanged us somehow. He knows the hearts of those that feel this way, and He will never punish them, but we must know that a heart of doubt is not a heart of faith. Without faith and the good works to back it, we will not see movement.
King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 12:13(NLT), “13 That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived. He set out on a course to explore all that there was to life and eventually fell into the depths of sadness in his travels. Thankfully, his journey did not end there. His conclusion about all that he had learned about life is stated in Ecclesiastes 12:13. It sums up our purpose on this earth, which is to reverence our Creator, the One True Living and All-Powerful God, and to obey His commandments. So, whether we’ve just begun, we’re in the middle, or close to the end, our next season is here! We’re in it! And to maximize its fullest potential, we must condition ourselves to the reality that sacrifice and great reverence for God are not chores. They are privileges that allow us to move from season to season with His grace, power, and blessings. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Your Next Season Is Here!”, written by Kim Times, edited by Reverend Fran Mack and KLizzie for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
