Seasons - Pastor Stacey Shiflett
- Pastor Shiflett
- 13 hours ago
- 6 min read
Seasons
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.
Additional verses on the importance of seasons.
· Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
· Psalms 104:19 He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.
Intro: Seasons are a part of life. They are a necessary part of life.
Interesting facts about seasons.
Earth spends unequal time in each season.
Because Earth’s orbit is not a perfect circle, the lengths of the astronomical seasons differ:
Summer: 93.6 days (longest)
Spring: 92.8 days
Autumn: 89.8 days
Winter: 88.9 days (shortest)
Seasons shift slightly every year.
Each season’s start time moves by several hours annually due to Earth’s orbital wobble.
Seasons would not exist without Earth’s tilt.
Earth’s 23.5° tilt is the only reason for seasons.
If Earth were not tilted:
No winter
No summer
No harvest cycle
Climate would be the same year-round
Without seasons, food production would collapse.
Over 90% of global crops rely on seasonal temperature and day-length changes.
Just as the seasons of the earth are necessary, so are seasons in the life of the Christian.
Seasons are controlled by God.
You and I can do nothing to change the season.
Seasons are ordained by God.
· Psalms 74:17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth: thou hast made summer and winter.
· Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Every season has a PURPOSE – God wastes no opportunity to accomplish His will.
Every season has a PROBLEM – each brings its own challenges.
Every season has a PROMISE – God provides what the season requires, and He is faithful.
Every season has a PASSING – no season; good or bad, lasts forever.
Two things we need to remember about seasons:
1. There are some seasons that we DO NOT know about.
Acts 1
· 6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
· 7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
2. There are some seasons that we DO know about.
1 Thessalonians 5
· 1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
· 2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
Every child of God goes through seasons.
From the greatest Christian that has ever lived to the most nominal Christian – everybody has seasons.
The great Apostle Paul went through seasons.
Seasons of preaching, seasons of preparing, seasons of power, and seasons of prison.
Seasons of ministry, seasons of miracles, seasons of mentoring and season of martyrdom.
Philippians 4
· 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.
· 12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
His response?
· 13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Your season should not determine your faith.
Your season should not determine your faithfulness.
Seasons are in our life for a reason – for us to grow, to learn to trust God, to purify and strengthen.
Isaiah 40
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Conclusion: Seasons are controlled by God.
You and I can do nothing to change the season.
Understanding what season you are in might be good in some ways.
If for no other reason, than for you to understand that God allows His people to go through these times.
But regardless of your season – stay faithful; stay true to God; be patient.
Don’t faint. Don’t quit. Don’t doubt God. Don’t lose heart.
The sun will shine again.
The flowers will bloom again.
The rain will fall again.
Psalms 30:5 …weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
Part 2
(no outline)
Part 3
I. Seasons of Resistance
· 1 Peter 1:6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
Matthew 4
· 1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
· 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
· 3 And when the tempter came to him,
NOTICE what follows the temptation
· 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
The time of temptation was only for a season.
II. Seasons of Reprieve
· Luke 4:13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.
· 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
The season of reprieve after the season of resistance makes it all worthwhile.
1 Peter 1
· 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
· 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
III. Seasons of Rebuke
· Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
NOTE: The length of the chastisement depends on our response to it!
If you rebel against God for years, that season of rebuke will drag on and on!
That “afterwards” is a tremendous blessing in the life of the child of God.
IV. Seasons of Responsibility
· 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
This one is hard on the flesh, because the responsibility is not contingent on the season.
This is when being faithful comes in.
This when walking by faith comes in.
This is when you do what God called you to do, regardless of the season.
In case you think this responsibility is only applicable to the preachers, think again.
· 1 Corinthians 4:2 Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.
V. Seasons of Reaping
· Psalms 1:3 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.
Psalm 126
· 5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
· 6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.