Ps. Craig Mobey
What if I said that I want you to stop looking at your current place as a place of stuckness? What if I said that the right time and right season to do something about it, is now? You may be asking me “how do you know that ‘now’ is the right time and season?”
Scriptures (NIV)
Genesis 8:22, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
1 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”
Introduction
Seasons and timing are important to God, and they should be important to us as well.
The next thing we need to grasp is that there is enough time to do what must be done, while you are alive. Scripture says that is a time for everything. The real challenge is not time, but priorities: people tend to first do what is important to them; even if that important thing is selfish or pleasurable or long and difficult.
We need to appropriately move through seasons and at the same time, do what must be done, and when it must be done.
Life is going to present us with some good times and some challenging times. Although life – because it is a gift of God – remains good, we at the same time need to embrace the challenging times and push through with Godly focus perseverance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3-5) instead of allowing the not-so-good times to dominate.
In this message, I will share some thoughts with you to help you during the not-so-good times.
If You Do Something, Something Will Happen. If You Do Nothing, That Too Will Happen
The first is to know what season and time you are in; be it seed time, a time of patience, a time for caring or harvest time. We need to realistically know what to expect from our present season and time of life. If it is not harvest time, by all means, look forward to the harvest, but don’t expect a harvest right now.
Likewise, you can’t look forward to the harvest if you have not done what is required to get the harvest. If you have not sown seed at the appropriate time, how can you look forward to a harvest at the appropriate time?
Noah at the right time, was told to build the ark. At the right time, he started building and the construction lasted for the right period time. At the right time, the animals came in. At the right time, the ark was closed. The flood started at the right time and lasted for the right period of time. He stayed in the ark for the right period of time. At the right time, the ark was opened.
Any mistiming would have led to disaster.
How to Prosper No Matter What the Season
“Prosper” is something we want to hear during a not-so-good time. At the same time, because we have times and seasons, it is unrealistic to prosper 24/7. Or is it? I suggest that prospering is possible 24/7, but maybe not as you might expect. We may have to attend to our understanding of prosperity.
Psalm 1:3 reads, “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.” Whatever they do prospers. It stands to reason that if they do nothing, well… not much will prosper. But this prosperity statement needs context.
Therefore, I must emphasize verses 1 and 2 of Psalm 1 because it contextualizes the “what they do prospers,” it reads, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night.” The result is prospering in what you do.
Biblical prosperity is not about me, an expensive car, money, designer clothing and the absence of hardship. Biblical prosperity is not the result of “name it and claim it.” I cannot force God, and I cannot “speak it into existence.”
The Bible does not promise us an absence of hardship, but it does promise us that God will be with us and the peace of Christ during those hard times.
Biblical prosperity is the blessed result flowing from the sovereign decision of God as it relates to His purposes. It is because in Him we have everlasting life and can remove me or you from the love of God. It is because God is with me, and He is with you. It is because the Gospel is being spread. It is because the gate of hell shall not prevail against His church. It is the peace of Christ.
My contribution to prosperity is to study His Word, be obedient to Him and in prayer and humility, bring my requests to Him.
So in this sense, biblical prosperity is a 24/7 possibility; the absence of temporary/worldly things is not an absence of biblical prosperity. The fact that God will help us through the not-so-good times is in itself, biblical prosperity.
How to Overcome a Mountain
As we move through seasons and times, we will encounter obstacles. I am reminded of Jesus and the disciples in the boat. They had witnessed Jesus’ miracles. I can in a sense imagine that when they got into the boat with Jesus, it might have been with the mindset of “what could possibly go wrong?”
“What could possibly go wrong?” is perhaps a false statement of confidence as life unfolds. There will be mountains to cross, and they may have some interesting names, such as the death of a loved one, finance, unfaithfulness, unemployment, ministerial challenges, and so on.
The first thing to remember, is that if a mountain is ahead of you, and you need to cross over it, you must “engage it.” The mountain is not going to come to you and sink into the ground so that you can pass over a flat surface. While we are on the topic, “now” is always the right time and season to engage the mountain.
All the waiting in the world will not get you to the top of the mountain.
I repeat: if you want to climb the mountain you must move toward it. You will know that there will be obstacles on the way up. But at some point, you must take the first step onto the mountain.
Even though you might plan a route ahead of the time, you might not see the whole route to the summit and there might be some unexpected lose rocks etc. You get easily lost on a mountainside when mist or darkness closes in around you and you don’t know where to step next. This is a dangerous – and potentially deadly – situation. In this situation, your next step might be your last step. Therefore, you should always know where to step next. Psalm 119:105 reads, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”
Every step, every season, every time, and every journey are best faced when rooted in the Word of God. When God shows you where to step next, you step onto holy territory because you are stepping into the purposes and will of God. He will light your path and feet as you climb. In this way, you approach your mountains with confidence.
How to Actively Wait Between Seasons
Active and wait; are 2 words you don’t often see in the same sentence. Let’s turn to 1 Kings 18:41, “And Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.’” This after 3 years of drought. There is so much to learn from this passage of Scripture; we don’t have the time, so here is the short version:
- Elijah prayed – his prayer matched his expectation – his face was almost to the ground.
- He sends his servant to look at the sea. Nothing.
- Elijah told his servant to look 7 more times!
- Elijah gets the answer he was looking for, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising up from the sea.”
- Elijah sends a message to Ahab.
What are you doing while you are waiting? Where is your heart when you are waiting? Let your face guide you… is it between your knees while you earnestly petition the Lord?
Conclusion
The time between seasons is not a time of “nothing-ness.” It is simply a different season, so there cannot be something like a “wrong season.” Seasons are given by God; therefore, they are good.
What about time? The principle is that you cannot idly kill time without injuring eternity. Elijah did not passively wait for the cloud to appear. That Elijah “bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees” shows us how Elijah actively waited between season and time.
His prayers matched his expectation.
Discerning the present will of God is to discern season and time. And since God is always active in our lives and in the world, the time is always right to obediently do the will of God.
The result will be the ability to see your circumstances differently, glorifying God, spiritual growth, meaningful progress, Godly prosperity, optimising both seasons as well as time, and un-stuckness.
A reminder of how to discern the will of God: open your Bible and study it.
Amen.