"A Change of Season is Coming"

By: Ron Jutze, General Manager - HSWM

“But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hand”
Ps 31:14-15

Life has diversity to it; this is what makes it exciting. A great novel is similar in that it contains a variety of chapters in order to unfold the whole story. The chapters in a novel reveal different “seasons” of the story which makes it exciting and gives the book its “life”. The first season of the book sets the stage and introduces the story; this is to capture your attention. The next season reveals the plot twists that stir your emotions with the suspense of what’s going to happen next. Finally, the last season of chapters ties the story together; these chapters connect the dots and answer the suspense that causes you to be wholeheartedly entertained.

Life also captures its diversity in the “seasons” we experience. Our life is a journey we are traveling each day. This journey happens to be comprised of a variety of seasons; this is what makes life suspenseful and exciting at the same time. Some of those seasons are warm and some are cold. There are times that seem rainy and other times sunny. We encounter fruitful seasons, planting seasons even winter seasons that makes up our life experience. God created life that way. The important thing to know is that as long as you are on this earth, your life is not over, the journey continues, the story is not finished. It is not finished until you exit this earth. Until either the trumpet sounds and you are caught away (the rapture) or you pass from this life into eternity, your life still has purpose to God. There are still chapters God is writing to tell the complete story of what He is working in and through your life to glorify Jesus Christ. It’s not over!

“As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night.” Gensis 8:22 NLT

This verse reveals that God authors times and seasons. The book of Daniel reveals that God also “changes the times and seasons” (Dan.2:21).
A Time is defined as a season, a period of time or a portion of a lifetime. I want to talk about a season that is not pleasant - the season of winter. Have you ever felt the chill of a winter season, a time of unfruitfulness, where everything appears cold and non-productive? David understands this experience. He calls it a “pit”.

“Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink;.. Nor let the deep swallow me up; And let not the pit shut its mouth on me”.
Psalm 69:14-15 NKJV

“He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay...” Ps 40:2 NKJV

I have heard people say that their life is “the pits”. Have you ever experienced a time that felt like you were in a pit? God speaks of David as a man after his own heart; “He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13:22). Still David, the greatest King of Israel, the passionate worshipper of God, had seasons in his life that he felt in the pit.

The pit or winter season represents three things.

1. A low point in your life. The word pit means a hole, dungeon or prison. This low point is where the “lift” and confidence are taken out of your life. You feel trapped in the depths of discouragement and the darkness of despair, a prisoner of hopelessness.

2. Uncertainty around your life. David described this pit as a “horrible” pit. The word horrible means a crash, uproar of rushing noise. This is where your “faith” perspective is being challenged. The uproar of confusing voices crash into your thought realm and you begin to wonder if God is really going to help you or why He allowed you there. You wonder why it is taking so long for God to manifest His promise. You feel like a victim to a dream that will never see the light of reality. The scriptures describe it this way “Hope deferred makes the heart sick..” (Pr.13:12).

3. Lack of Stability in journey. “Deliver me out of the mire, And let me not sink”
(Ps 69:14-15). Mire is mud, and there is no firm footing in mud. This is a place where the ground you relied on has slipped out from under your feet. You feel that nothing is solid or dependable; you are just going around and around and getting nowhere. Your future seems bleak because you have no solid direction to follow after.

The good news is that your journey does not end in the pit. A change of season is coming which produces a change of experience. The stage is being set by God and for God. You can trust God with your present and your future. On the other side of the pit God is completing the story where He will get the glory for the work He is doing in and through your life and circumstances. On the other side of the pit is fresh direction where God is firmly establishing your steps. There is a new song of praise that fills your mouth, an enhanced expression of life experiences. Ultimately God uses this “change of season” in your life as a trophy to help others believe in Him.

“He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth — Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD”. (Ps 40:2-3 NKJ)

As you are reading this you may be thinking, “I feel like my life, my ministry, my marriage, my family is dead. Will God change my season to live again?” The answer is absolutely!! How can I be so sure? Remember Lazarus; when Jesus heard word that Lazarus was sick his reply was, “The final result of this sickness will not be the death of Lazarus; this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.”
(John 11:4 TEV)

The family’s view was that because Jesus delayed his coming, the sickness overcame Lazarus’ body and he died. “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21 NKJ). This story doesn’t end with Lazarus dead in a tomb (pit). Jesus calls to him and the power of God gives Lazarus renewed life to come out of the tomb (pit). Let me encourage you today- God’s delayed response does not represent His denial of intervention. God has the final verdict. The tomb (pit) that spoke of death to the crowd around Lazarus was a womb to God that speaks of renewed life. God was using the death of Lazarus to birth a new start, a fresh life that would glorify Him and attract others to follow Jesus. “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him” John 11:45 NKJ.

The issue of the winter season is not over your present, but your future. God has not forgotten you, nor is your “winter” season intended to last forever. The season is about to change. God is setting the stage to manifest His Glory and power in the affairs of life. God can be trusted in your present and with your future. God is presently working in you His will and His good pleasure. God is also working to reach others to believe in Him and become followers of Christ.

The testimony of how God has changed your season and brought you out of a pit and into a new season of enjoying life will reveal His goodness and attract people to Him. Your life becomes the trophy God parades to the world around you to attract them to Him. It’s time to get ready, hear His voice calling to us - “Come forth” and walk in obedience to His call.

The Glory of God is going to manifest!
The Best is Yet to Come!!!