Seasons

Take a minute to enjoy a sweet post from FBC's Women's Ministry Director, Jen Bryant -

“There is a season, turn, turn, turn… and a time for every purpose under heaven…”  God wrote about seasons long before The Byrds sang about them:

Ecc. 3:1-8 – There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time for to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

There is a time for everything.  We all journey through different seasons in our lives – this is Biblical truth.  It is also true that every season (both good & bad) must come to an end.  We must cling to this truth when we are in the midst of a season of weeping and mourning.  God promises that will we have seasons of laughing and dancing again. 

After an extremely difficult season of trials, pain, suffering, and tragic loss in my own life, there were times when I truly felt like I would live with a heaviness of sorrow on my heart for the rest of my life.  I felt as though I would never fully enjoy my life or my blessings again. 

Oh, I knew I had blessings.  I had a wonderful, Godly husband who loved me and was a terrific father.  I had two healthy, precious daughters.  What was wrong with me?  Was I so angry with God and in such depths of grief that I could not be thankful for the obvious blessings God had given me because of what He had taken away?  Just recently, I found a quote by Beth Moore that summarized and validated this time in my life so well:

You cry until you’re certain you have no more tears and then a few hours later, they wash over you like a flood.  You wonder where on earth they’re coming from. …Staring out into space, experiencing moments of nothingness… of meaninglessness… even though a (child) nearby would have begged to differ.  In the early moments of loss, nothing we have can quite make up for what we’ve lost.  Only time and healing can bring back our realization of all we have to live for.  Early grief steals our world as if nothing and no one else ever existed.

–        Beth Moore, The Patriarchs, pg. 78

And yet, that season did come to an end.  My grieving and healing process has been a long and often difficult process, but I can say with confidence that the Lord has brought our family out of our season of weeping and mourning and into a season of healing, blessing, laughing, and yes, even a little dancing!  In the midst of your own trials, when you can barely lift your head above the churning waters long enough to take a breath, it may seem like it will never end.  Cling to God’s promise that He will bring you out of this season in His perfect timing and you will, believe it or not, have seasons of laughter and dancing again!

Now, of course, the “flip side” of this is that those of us who are currently enjoying a good season must realize that we will again face difficult seasons.  Now, I, of course have decided that I am done with all my seasons of death, weeping, mourning, tearing down, etc. and will now only have the good seasons until Jesus takes me home.  Sounds good, right??  But, noooo, I know much better than that…  I know that there are difficult seasons ahead of me.  I don’t know what they are (and I don’t really want to know!), but I do know that they will come.  Jesus Himself promised that.  At first, the thought of having to face trials in my future that are even a fraction of what I have already faced strikes fear in the deepest part of my soul and just about sends me into an anxiety attack! 

But, then God takes my hand, and says gently, “My child, remember what I have taught you.  I will not send you into any battle without fully equipping you with what you need to be victorious.” 

For His Word says,

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  – 2 Peter 1:4

Much of this “everything we need” is found in God’s Word.  That is why it is so important to be in His word, adding to your personal artillery during the good seasons as well as in the difficult ones.  Just as Joseph in Egypt stored up grain during the seven years of abundance to prepare for the seven years of famine, we must also store up a harvest of God’s word in the good seasons.  When seasons of famine come, God will use these stored up scriptures to comfort and strengthen you.  He will bring these scriptures to your mind for you to pray when you have no words of your own left.  When you don’t have the time, energy, or desire to study His word in these difficult times, His word will already be stored up like treasures in your heart!

Well, we may think to ourselves, difficult times may be inevitable, but God will never give us more than we can handle, right?  I’ve heard this saying so many times and I must confess that I am guilty of saying it myself.  But, do you know that that is not Biblical truth??  The scripture that this saying loosely refers to is 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says,

And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.  

This scripture, although wonderful, is not talking about trials of pain, suffering, grief, and loss.  It is talking about temptation.  God promises that He will not allow us to be tempted without giving us a way out.  Praise Him!  But, what He is NOT promising is that He will not allow us to endure more trials and troubles than we can handle. 

Quite the contrary.  In John 16:33, Jesus says, “in this world you WILL have trouble.”  Jesus continues, “But take heart!  I have overcome the world!”  Look with me at some more of God’s promises:   

*Luke 1:37 – Nothing is impossible with God.

*2 Cor. 12:9-10 – tells us that His grace is sufficient for us and that His power is made perfect in our weakness.

*Isaiah 41:10 – So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. 

*Romans 8:37-39 – God tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God – not death or life, angels or demons, present or future, NOTHING in all creation!  God promises that we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loved us!

*Jeremiah 32:17 – tells us nothing is too hard for God!

*Colossians 1:29 – To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Do you notice something here?  It’s not about my strength or what I can handle.  It’s all about His strength and power, and what He can do through me when what little strength I did have is long gone, and I humbly acknowledge my own utter and complete weakness before His throne.  No, God does not promise that He won’t give us more than we can handle.  What God does promise is that He will not give us more than HE can handle.  And He can handle anything.

Although we can be certain that difficult seasons will come, we need NOT fear them.  God has used the trials of the past to strengthen and equip us for trials we will face in the future.  One of my favorite quotes from Chuck Swindoll is “Nothing touches our lives that hasn’t first filtered through the very fingers of God.” 

Not long ago, our very own Pastor Wayne touched on the subject of fear in his sermon on Haggai 2.  Haggai 2:5 says, “And My Spirit remains among you. DO NOT FEAR.”  In verse 4, God exhorts, “Be strong… For I am with you.”   Pastor Wayne explained to us that the word “strong” is the Hebrew word “chazaq,” which means “to hang tight to something, to be fixed.”  “Just like a barnacle,” Pastor Wayne declared.  I love that!  Just be a barnacle on Jesus and never fear!  Even the fiercest storm cannot peel a barnacle of its chosen spot.  As Pastor Wayne put it, “Where God is there is no need to fear – He is bigger than any storm.”

At a Beth Moore conference I was blessed to attend, Beth taught on a particular passage in the book of 1 Samuel.  Just after the Israelite army had defeated the Philistines by the grace of God, Samuel set up a stone to commemorate the victory and named the stone “Ebenezer,” saying “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” (1Sam. 7:12)  Now, set aside all associations with Ebenezer Scrooge, and focus on the meaning – “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”  Look back over your life and find your “Ebenezer stones.”  Recall the things the Lord has helped you through and rest in the assurance that He will help you again.  When fear creeps into the corners of your heart, say to yourself, “Thus far the Lord has helped me, and He will continue to help me, come what may!”  Your God is faithful.  He has been faithful to you and He will be faithful to you.  Count on it.                 

~Jennifer Bryant