The Sunday Season
You are in a season...You are whether you like it or not!
GROWTHSEASONS
We experience seasons our entire life. In the natural, we are in Summer, Fall, Winter, or Spring. These are representative of all the seasons we go through. And within those seasons are “mini-seasons”. Or shifts and changes.
The world experiences only four seasons. In the summertime, it’s warm and can be a time of celebrations. We do things like vacations and extra time off. And it can often be difficult because of the heat. But in that heat things grow and flourish. This is the Thursday Season.
In the Fall, things of the Summer go away. The heat tones down and the rain begins to come. The reality of all that has come during the warm months slowly changes to a different form and the life we see during the hot season dies off and withers. We call this Fall because so much of the leaves and proof of life “fall” from the trees. This is the Friday Season.
Then wintertime hits as the world turns wet or white. Depending on your location. The days shorten and it seems to be cold all the time. Life becomes miserable if you work outside. Even if you don’t, you have to travel through the storms and difficulties daily. Sometimes it seems the misery will never end. This is the Saturday Season.
And you know what comes next, don’t you? Spring! Winter seems at its greatest peak and suddenly, there are buds on the trees. Sporadic days of warm weather show up. The sun comes up earlier and remains up longer. Less clouds and more time spent outdoors. The promise of growth, joy, and beautiful days returns. This is the Sunday Season.
Thursday, Jesus sat with His disciples and ate. It was the first day of Passover and feasting was in order. Life had been pretty good. Much teaching and learning had happened. The disciples had even discussed who would be in the places of honor beside Jesus in Heaven. The ministry of Christ and all that He would do would go on and on.
It’s true there were moments of difficulty as they all saw the dislike of Jesus from the Pharisees. But the people loved Him! Look back at the moment He came in on the foal! The “Triumphal Entry”. What a moment to cherish and revel in! The power of God had shown up and the world was before them. Yes, Jesus had mentioned something about being killed. But this only created confusion the disciples didn’t want to accept. Perhaps they “spiritualized” it.
But Thursday was a good day. It was a good season. It was a Summer Season.
Then Friday came. And it went from Summer to Fall very quickly. From an amazing Passover supper to dismal reality. From living with the King of Kings being your closest Friend, to watching the horror of His murder and destruction. Going from the place of favor with God to watching God die on a cross. All the world meant nothing now.
Friday wasn’t good at all. It was painful and the mark of something worse to come. It was Fall and Winter was moments away.
On Saturday the disciples ached and hid. The fear that what had happened to Jesus would happen to them was so strong they remained under cover. What if the same people who loved on Jesus and turned on Him so easily decided to come for them? What would be their defense? How would they talk their own way out of following in His footsteps up the hill to a cross?
The chill of their reality was overwhelming, and they spent the day in seclusion, weeping and enduring the loss that the world had no idea even existed yet. The clouds came and it became cold as the Son was gone.
The Winter Season of Saturday was not embraced, but came anyway. Fear of an unknown future, trembling of uncertainty, and the “What now?” became the mindset of the people devoted to Christ. Saturday was worse than Friday as the monster of regret and doubt took hold. “It will always be Winter…”
The seasons of our lives come in these ways. A Summer when all seems wonderful and beautiful. A Fall when things begin to fall apart. And Winter as the inevitable cold and dismal results of Fall take control of life.
Your life might be sitting in one of these. But like the seasons of nature and the always coming future, there is a Sunday/Spring on the way! You will rise one morning and see the sun come, the trees flourishing in green leaves, flowers bursting upon the landscape, the blue, sapphire sky, the warm sun on your skin, and the Resurrection of the Son of God reminding the world that God always, always, always wins!
God plans good for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). When David was anointed king over Israel, he spent years fighting for his life. His Springtime came after much training and pure horror at the battles he fought.
Jesus waited 30 years before He saw ministry. And He was/is the Son of God!
All through Scripture we see multiple times where a great man or woman of God had to endure Friday and Saturday Seasons before Sunday came.
But how do you get through the Fall/Friday and Winter/Saturday seasons? Maybe you are watching your circumstances disintegrate in front of you. Maybe you are fighting to pick up the pieces. How do you learn to live in those moments?
In Luke 8, we see the parable of the Sower. The one seed that was planted and grew in rocky ground is the individual that fell from God when the Friday and Saturday seasons came. If you want to get through these seasons, you must make God your priority.
You will hear me teach all the time that the reason so many Christians struggle is because they do not prioritize the Word of God, communication (prayer) with God, and honoring God (worship). These are all basic relationship rules. And it is in relationship with God that we manage life during the hard moments of life. And guess what? There are no exceptions to the basic rules of relationship!
Get through your season with joy and strength by putting your time in daily with God. Surviving these is paramount because…
Sunday is on the way!