A Season

There is a man who had been farming several years. His wife became sick, his mother died. His father then developed health issues and died. Next his wife died. He had been fighting for years to get crops growing. Being hailed on every year and trying to keep going. He had to expand his dairy to keep afloat. This year his harvest was a bumper crop like never before. This man was a member of our church. Our church prayed and it happened. 

It's exciting when something works for somebody else but what about when it's not working for you? We all are in different stages of life. Some are in seasons of spring while another is in winter. If everyone was in the same season, the perfect balance God designed wouldn’t be so perfect. Corn farmers are at harvest while wheat farmers are planting. It's difficult not to compare yourself or life with someone else's. Sometimes it’s also hard to decipher, am I being punished or is my harvest out of season?
           
Yesterday we spoke about David and his first son with Bathsheba. Today we will discuss his second son from Bathsheba Solomon. Also called Jeddidiah by Nathan. Solomon wrote the book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes 3 really sums up the seasons.

​Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 (MSG) Note it is not in order to help get the full essence.
“But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I’ve had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he’s left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he’s coming or going. I’ve decided that there’s nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That’s it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It’s God’s gift. I’ve also concluded that whatever God does, that’s the way it’s going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God’s done it and that’s it. That’s so we’ll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear. Whatever was, is. Whatever will be, is. That’s how it always is with God.”

“I took another good look at what’s going on: The very place of judgment—corrupt! The place of righteousness—corrupt! I said to myself, “God will judge righteous and wicked.” There’s a right time for every thing, every deed—and there’s no getting around it. I said to myself regarding the human race, “God’s testing the lot of us, showing us up as nothing but animals.” Humans and animals come to the same end—humans die, animals die. We all breathe the same air. So there’s really no advantage in being human. None. Everything’s smoke. We all end up in the same place—we all came from dust, we all end up as dust. Nobody knows for sure that the human spirit rises to heaven or that the animal spirit sinks into the earth. So I made up my mind that there’s nothing better for us men and women than to have a good time in whatever we do—that’s our lot. Who knows if there’s anything else to life?”
“There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:

A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.”
           
Regardless of the season in your life, fearing God, worshiping God, not trying to understand God and enjoy your life. Look at these passages:

“Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I’m still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a “good” life. No matter how many days he lives, they’ll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn’t fear God.”
Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 MSG

 “Just as you’ll never understand the mystery of life forming in a pregnant woman, So you’ll never understand the mystery at work in all that God does.”
Ecclesiastes 11:5 MSG

“When I determined to load up on wisdom and examine everything taking place on earth, I realized that if you keep your eyes open day and night without even blinking, you’ll still never figure out the meaning of what God is doing on this earth. Search as hard as you like, you’re not going to make sense of it. No matter how smart you are, you won’t get to the bottom of it.”
Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 MSG
 
“Seize life! Eat bread with gusto, Drink wine with a robust heart. Oh yes—God takes pleasure in your pleasure! Dress festively every morning. Don’t skimp on colors and scarves. Relish life with the spouse you love Each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift. It’s all you get in exchange For the hard work of staying alive. Make the most of each one! Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, For there’s neither work to do nor thoughts to think In the company of the dead, where you’re most certainly headed.”
Ecclesiastes 9:7-10 MSG

This earth is full of random behaviors but all is completely organized and orchestrated by God. Every bit of your life God has the time to watch and is watching. Everyone is experiencing different seasons just like all of creation. Everything can’t be in the same season or the world would starve off. Just remember the seasons are always changing and work is being done in the background. You have to have the seasons. If the wheat doesn’t endure frost it won’t grow correctly. Many plants need winter in order to prepare for spring. These things all work together in order to bear fruit. 

Whether you are in summer or winter or springtime or harvest, God is faithful. He will deliver you. You will step into harvest and your efforts are going to bear fruit. The time frame of different seasons in your life only God knows, but your faithfulness will be rewarded. God has not forgotten you nor the work which He has established. We are all in a season. Hold tight to the truths, watch expectantly and remember this is a season. Then remind yourself by the Grace of all mighty God my harvest is coming.