One night as I was praying about what the Lord would have me to share at a Sister Life group night message. I heard one sentence in my mind, “What time is it?” 

As I thought about that and continued asking the Lord what He wanted to say. I thought of how our world runs on a time clock. We wake in the morning and we sleep at night. Lunch time is at 12 noon and our body begins to give us signs and signals that noon is approaching. 

The scriptures talk about time and say things like 2 Peter 3:8 With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 

Our God is eternal and yet he set us inside time. There are cycles of the moon to tell us what time of the month it is and there are cycles of the sun to tell us what time of year it is.  There is a natural rhythm to the earth that we see play out in nature. But we live in a culture with it’s own rhythm of go go go. 24-7 access to everything all the time. Some of us really like it and some of us really don’t.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

That word conformed means to comply with or come into agreement with, it even means to be educated by. I want to point out some cultural thinking and ways of the world that I think mess with our understanding of what time it is?

Culture thinking I see:

• We live 24-7 – take advantage of every opportunity and moment. 
• You better have grit, hustle, and a side hustle. 
• You better have personal control over your life, because a messy life means you’re not succeeding. 
• Your time is valuable so you better be productive and accomplish as much as possible. 
• It’s a dog eat dog world out there so if you’re good at what you do, not just good but the best then you will eat good. 
• Work – don’t waste time! They don’t say you are a human doer. But they imply it by making doing so a high priority. There’s no time for feelings or processing until you crash. 
• Everything must have a purpose or a reason – it must be functional and efficient to have significance. 
• Live the “Im fine” life, it is less messy that way. And just “do you.”

We don’t want to be conformed by this world and its culture, we want to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Which means God wants us to have a new way of thinking.

So, what time is it? If we look at that natural rhythm of the earth we can see 4 times that are consistent. Each season has its own work to be done – its just different types of work in due season. 

(Winter) – is like a Time of reflection. I think of Psalm 90:12 Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. The earth slows down, the animals go into their burrows, the trees lay bare, there isn’t much to look at – this is a time where we too can slow down, remember, even stop for a while and look back at where we have been. This is a great time to rest, give thanks, to see where we have grown, and where we came up short. We can breathe and be. And readjust and realign any “out of place” ways in our lives to His His way. And wait on Him to speak direction, life, purpose, and calling for the next season. 

(Spring) is like a Time of preparation –  I think of Proverbs 6:6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, 8 yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. I think of how in the spring we prepare soil for the seed. My husband really tends to the ground during this season. Adding nutrients, compost, manure. Tilling and turning – clearing any rocks or long grass roots. Making sure that the ground is ready for the seed is of great importance. This is the time to ready our soil/soul for the seed. The parable of the sower in Matt 13 talks about 4 kinds of ground. 

1. The Hard Path – some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. The seed never made it in the ground and the seed was snatched away by the enemy.
2. The Rocky Ground – Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away.  This seed never got deep roots to grow. A little heat of trouble or trial snuffed it out. 
3. Thorny Ground –  Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Distraction and want of worldly things made the seed unfruitful. It had no room to grow and flourish. 
4. The Good Ground – Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. This is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yield a harvest. 

In Spring time – Slowly we adjust our schedules, change our routines, get things off our plate that don’t belong in the next season. Let go of the old ways and we make room for the new. Planning, praying, and implementing what God wants to do in us and through us. Sometimes we hold on to stuff from the old season. If we kept every dried out plant that remained through winter our garden would be a mess. We have to remove the old to ready the soil for the new. 

(Summer) is like a Time of Works – like John 9:4 As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. Summer days are long. This is where we have the most time to maximize our efforts. The things God has spoken to us and then we’ve prepared for, are ready to begin. So we must remember to get plenty of SON – JESUS time. Summer is hot! Be sure to Take deep drinks of living water. Stay hydrated with the Word of God. Sometimes we are just so busy we forget or don’t have time. Make time! Tend to the weeds that crop up so that things don’t get overgrown and wild in our hearts. Let the Father tend to the pruning… submit to the process of letting go and getting rid of what we don’t need so that what we do need is able to grow and give a harvest.  Things like attitudes, thought -processes, emotional baggage. Get a prayer partner and Grow through what you go through. If you are paying attention and doing the work you will gain the first fruits and harvests of the season at the right time. 

Berries, tomatoes, peppers, squash. – all the goodies. All the blessings. Coming!

(Fall)  Time of Favor – like 2 Cor. 6:2 For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.   

This is the time when all the harvest is coming in – it is still a quite busy season. There is processing, and canning, and enjoying the harvest. It’s a time of favor. People are sharing their goods and swapping and readying for the winter. Because winter is coming. 

And we must not forget that God said in Exodus 20 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. – the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work.  So even in the busiest time of year when we can get the most done, with the most effort, with the most time – we still have a provision of rest. 

1 day a week. Where we rest. 

For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. 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 6:8-10

What time is it? 

Galatians 6:9 let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. 

It’s really easy to be out of season. In a season of go go going through summer, fall, and winter, meant when spring came I felt like I had no energy. My husband and I were rarely on the same page. I started drinking more coffee, and fizzy energy drinks just to keep up. I had skipped my reflection time and now I was supposed to be in preparation time but my body and soul were heading into a winterand I was dragging. I got sick a lot that year. I was out of season. During that year my husband and I really struggles to communicate. He had made me a garden heart out of granite at the entrance of our garden and the Lord had uses that garden to help me understand where my husband and I were in that season. There was a vine that was beautiful and smelled so nice. It was called honey vine. When it grew a pod we didnt think anything about it. The pod opened and the season closed. The next spring we had honey vine springing up everywere. It would bend entire trees over. The Lord used this vine to express how if we dont take care of the weeds and tendrils in the seasons that we are in they will multiple and strangle us, bending us to their will.

God gives us seasons so that we can move through them. But sometimes we get stuck in one. I was stuck in Summer those few years. It was really hard, not alot of rest, and it was a real struggle. But God helped me see that we need the ebb and flow of seasons because we cant run summer forever. We need fall and winter to come. So that we can rest and prepare for the next season.

Ps 31:14-15 But I trust in you, O Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!

God knows our times and seasons. If we pray and ask him – He will help us to know what season we are in and how to get in the right season at the right time. 

What season are you in? or what season do you need? 

How can you reset your time clock to God’s rhythm? 

Thanks for Listening,

Starla