In Every Season and In Every Circumstance

Monday, November 25, 2019  Some Material taken from In Due Season by Van Houser
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. Galatians 6:9-10 ESV

Every day is a good day to start something new and good for you.  Brother Van’s sermon yesterday was about time, seasons, and reaping what we sow. If we want good things in our lives, we have to put forth the effort, and then it still takes time to see the fruits of our efforts. Nothing happens instantly. Time is really a part of every single aspect of life.  There is not a part of life that is not affected by time. Take raising kids for example - although there are days that literally drag by, it really does happen so fast. It feels like forever when they are 100% dependent on us, but the next thing you know they are graduating from High School. Time and waiting on God’s timing for our lives is something we have to learn to accept - and rest in - or it will steal the joy from our lives. Part of the waiting and trusting in His timing is recognizing that there are seasons in our lives and circumstances in our lives, and we cannot control either one.  We can embrace them and trust in His perfect plan. 

Seasons of Life
God created the earth and our lives to operate in seasons. A season in our life is a time frame that has been allotted for something to happen...which affects the future.  There is a lot of change in life, but nothing in our lives happens by accident.  Every single thing, good and bad, is appointed by God and we should give thanks for every season, even the hard ones. We experience all these things in life because God, in His complete sovereignty has ordained all of them for our lives...the bad, the difficult and the painful as well as the pleasant, the comfortable and the delightful. It all comes from the hand of God, even when none of it makes sense to us.

Circumstances of Life
Letting our experiences dictate our happiness and peace is not God's plan. We have no control over many of the circumstances in our lives.  But we do have control over our reactions and what we do with ourselves in the midst of difficult circumstances.  Circumstances without purpose can wear us out. Just going through the motions in life can will cause us to be apathetic, bored, and empty. If our heart is not involved, we will have no initiative or ownership in anything we do.  God's design and desire is to control our lives to produce the purpose and fulfillment He has planned for our lives. Being responsible to God with time in life can bring us the peace, joy, and fulfillment we have been trying to produce on our own. When we discover God's purpose then we can also discover His power and peace.  We all should ask ourselves “How much of my daily life is under God's control?"

Four things we can remember in the seasons of life:

• Choose Faith Over Frustration - Trust God and His wisdom that He will use every season of our lives to accomplish His purpose for our lives.
• Choose Gratitude over Grumbling - Complaining doesn’t change anything, so instead look for God in the circumstances and see what gift of the season you can find.
• Choose Good over Gain - All the things in the world will not satisfy your aching soul the way doing something kind for someone else will. 
• Choose to Reverence God rather than Fear Life - Living in fear of what can happen in life will steal your life.  We don’t have the perspective that God does.  We can only see a short distance, but we make ourselves miserable imagining things that will never happen. 

Our AWESOME God is present in all the seasons and circumstances of life working
out His eternal plan!  We stand in “reverent awe” before Him.