The seasons of our lives……….

It amazes me sometimes how God gives us the many seasons of our lives. Most times when we suspect it the least is when he blows in the season of change.

We have seasons with our kids; baby, toddler, child, teen, young adult. And with ourselves, just add middle age, elderly, old age. We have seasons in our jobs; new and exciting, moving up the ladder, plateau, looking forward to retirement, retirement. And we also have seasons in our walk with the Lord and in our church lives.

The bible talks about seasons in several places, the most familiar to all of us is in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 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 that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Daniel 2:21 – And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

Genesis 8:22 – While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

Psalm 1:3 – Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Galatians 6:9 – And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

2 Timothy 4:2 – Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

Seasons can mean such different things, to the farmer it’s time to grow or harvest. It can be a physical time in our lives, but more importantly it is a time in our spiritual lives. But it always comes with times of change.

As man, we tend not to do well with change, we generally resist it, we fight it, we don’t like it. But many times, God give us change to make us better. He does it according to His plan which is always good, even though it is so hard for us to see or understand. At times He will give us change that is very difficult, it will hurt for now, it will not be easy for now, but He knows that it will be good for us. It could be the loss of a loved one, but He will always guide us to new hope and life. It could be the loss of a job that we really liked, or we felt we were actually pretty good at; but in His grand plan, it was not the job He wanted us to do. It could be a financial loss which He may want to show us what it is like to live without or to live within our means, and to use the gifts from Him to further His works not ours. It could even be a physical move from our comfortable home and surroundings to a complete and strange new place, because in His season it’s time for us to do differently.

Friends, you see, seasons come in many shapes and forms. We may have a difficult time understanding or coping with them, but if we continue in the faith, if we continue to focus on the fact that it’s God’s plan, that he will never leave or forsake those who follow Him, those who believe in Jesus Christ, these new seasons will bring on new, exciting, and prosperous times for us. We need to continue to give the Father all the praise and glory for our changing seasons!

Father, I know you are all knowing, all powerful and that Your plan for us is always good and always on time. Please help me to understand these seasons of change, please help me be at peace with these seasons and give me the courage and strength to continue to follow You wherever you lead me with this new season. I will continue to praise You, I will continue to love You and I will go wherever You lead me! I pray all of this in the name of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Amen

This week, I ask you to go forward in any of the new seasons in your life, knowing that the Father always love you and will always be with you to guide you through the next season of your life.

God’s peace be with you all!

Why me, Murphy’s Law or Satan’s power?

This week I am lead to write based on my readings in the book of Daniel.

Daniel was one of the four Major Prophets. He was captured and exiled in Babylon. During his exile, he remained faithful to God and because of that faith was rewarded by God with the gift of prophetic vision. He is an example of dedication and commitment. His example can help us toward that God’s saving power also.

Why me? Oops, Murphy’s Law strikes again! How many times have you said either of those terms? Pretty common isn’t it? Did you ever stop to really think about the situation when you said them? For a long time I never did, but over the past months I’ve had occasion to stop and really think about it.

Why me? Pretty common phrase when things don’t go the way we really wanted isn’t it? It’s easy to throw out that question. For me, this most often occurs when I am really trying to do the right thing or wanting something special and it doesn’t go the way I want. Most times it can go just the opposite and something I thought was so “right” turned out to be so “wrong”!

When I stopped to think about it, what I wanted, ended up not to be what God wanted. I started with all the best intentions but in the end, it didn’t fit God’s plan for the situation or for me. Couldn’t see it at the time, but with the wonderful 20/20 vision that God give us it was crystal clear!

Same thing with Murphy’s Law, that joking way we put it when something happens to change the course of events in a manner we did not want to happen. It’s easy to blame Murphy for these things, when really it’s God’s way of kind of putting us in our place. He’s saying you’re playing My game and it’s going to be “My rules not yours!”

Here’s another thought to throw in the mix – Satan’s power! Did you ever consider that maybe; just maybe, Satan had a play in the events mentioned above? You see, Satan is always working; he’s always lurking around just looking for that small, small crack in our defenses to get a foothold. Once he has that foothold, he will do everything and anything to hang on and to exploit it to destroy us and to move us away from God’s love.

When we say “Why me?” or “… must have been Murphy’s Law” we are giving him that little opportunity. We are doubting, we are compromising, we are leaving that little opening for Satan to play with our minds.

How’s this tie in to Daniel? Well to give you a Cliff notes version, Daniel’s prophetic vision given him by God enabled him to rise to a position of honor and power in the Babylonian empire. Because of this some of the other leaders conspired against him and convinced the king to proclaim a law they knew Daniel could not obey. The penalty for disobedience was to be thrown into the lions’ den, a death sentence. Because of his courage to keep faithful to God throughout his exile, God spared his life and he came out of the lion’s den without a scratch. After this the king promoted him to an even higher position of authority because of his faith and commitment to his God.

Lesson – No matter what life throws at you keep your eyes, heart and mind focused on God. Follow Daniel’s example of uncompromising faith. Our future has been secured by Jesus Christ and our faith in Him. I have found that it is so important to keep my faith in God. He controls everything, He knows the outcome, He knows the purpose. We may think we do, but it will only be right if we are right with Him. By keeping my faith and focus on God, I have been able to find an inner peace in any circumstance. I may not like what’s happening, or feel comfortable with it, but I still have a peace in knowing that whatever it is or whatever the outcome God is with me and He will protect me.

May His peace come into your heart and be with you in this coming week.

Next week:  “Living God’s Will”