TIMES AND SEASONS

Genesis:8.22
 As long as the world exists, there will be a time for planting and a time for harvest. There will always be cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night."

Ecclesiastes:3.1
 Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.
Ecclesiastes:3.2
 He sets the time for birth and the time for death, the time for planting and the time for pulling up,
Ecclesiastes:3.3
 the time for killing and the time for healing, the time for tearing down and the time for building.
Ecclesiastes:3.4
 He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing,
Ecclesiastes:3.5
 the time for making love and the time for not making love, the time for kissing and the time for not kissing.
Ecclesiastes:3.6
 He sets the time for finding and the time for losing, the time for saving and the time for throwing away,
Ecclesiastes:3.7
 the time for tearing and the time for mending, the time for silence and the time for talk.
Ecclesiastes:3.8
 He sets the time for love and the time for hate, the time for war and the time for peace.

Growing up,  the verse above is the first I remember reciting in church (during harvest).  I was very young then but I never forgot it

And though I knew this Scripture well,  (I was always reading it in my sleep then before the harvest day) I didn't fully understand it.

Times and seasons involves transition from a phase to another.

Times and season basically bring change in our lives. So it's like a movement sort of.

There was a time the world was empty and without shape,  then God spoke and things were created. There was a time I had to collect money from my parents for everything but now I don't anymore. There was a time I could lie with a straight face but now I can't

Time and season began since the creation.

From darkness to light

From void to full

There was a time man was just dust

Then a time for man to live

And a time for man to die

Every aspect of our lives is divided into times and seasons.

It differs for us individually.

We all did not start crawling or walking at the same time/age

Some people stopped receiving breast milk earlier than others

Some started talking later than others.

Some start school earlier than others

Though our times and seasons in life differ generally,  it is very possible to meet people at a certain point in your life in the same season as yours.

This doesn't mean your times and seasons will tally and be exactly same forever.

Who Ordains times and seasons?

God does. 

Ecc. 3:1 says Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses. 
He chooses when what season starts/end.  He is in charge of it all

Let's look at natural seasons.

In nature, every season has a purpose.  Summer is not just there to give us sunkissed selfies.
Winter does not last forever.  God has set a time for it.

So is every season in our life. We leave and enter seasons.

Summer and fall is usually for harvesting crops

Winter is usually a time of preparation and sowing.

I love winter very much cos it makes my face fresh. But that's not the purpose of winter. I get lighter during winter (up to 3 shades sometimes)  but this is also not the purpose of winter

This brings us to purpose.

There is a reason/purpose for every season we enter in life.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
Ecclesiastes 3:1 KJV

A season is a time that has been allotted for something to happen.  Seasons are purposeful.

And as children of God who are ready to make the most of all seasons,  we should be in the know of when the season starts and it's purpose.

There as to be an understanding of the times we are in

Why do we need have a full understanding of Times and seasons

1. For us to know what to do and how to react to every season

When we know that it is rainy season,  what comes to mind?
Everybody starts buying umbrella.  People go out with one in their bag even when it is not raining,  just in case.

When summer comes,  the farmer doesn't sit and start taking sunkissed selfies like Remi,  he knows it is time to start checking and harvesting all that was planted.

When you graduate from school,  you know it's not just time to sit,  rejoice and start shouting up and down that I'm a graduate.

It is time to think of what next. Am I furthering my education? Am I looking for a job or starting my own business?

When it's winter,  there is an appropriate dress code. I can't be wearing short skirt and tops up and down. That's not the time for me to expose my body (cos of cold)

There is an appropriate reaction to every time and season. We are able to react appropriately if we know the purpose of that season.

2. To help us not miss out on what God is doing in our lives

When the farmer hears it is winter (time to plant)  and he sleeps,  he will have nothing to harvest and end up having nothing to feed on for that season.  He will have to wait till another season of planting

If the graduates decides to sleep in his house and tweet I'm now a graduate all day without looking for a job,  he will die of hunger. He will miss out on whatever Jobs that have been ordained to come his way cos he didn't do anything to get them. If you refuse to buy Jamb form the season it comes out,  you will have to wait till the next year to buy.  That's one whole year missed.

3. So as not to harm ourselves

When we hear there is a storm,  some places are barred. During winter,  you have to drive more cautiously cos the roads are slippery.

If you don't know it is stormy in a place and you drive roughly,  you might end up being dead

Not understanding times and seasons can put us in harms way

How do we discern times and change in seasons?

To discern various times and seasons,  we have to meet the person in charge of the times and seasons.

You want to know what will happen in Word Alive next week? Then you ask the domestic head of Word Alive - Remi

Now this is where it gets hard because not everybody knows when God is speaking or how He speaks with them. Not everybody understands or walks in the prophetic. Not every Christian has trained themselves to hear God.

Amos 3:7
Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

The message translation says:
The fact is,  God the master does nothing without first telling His prophets the whole story

Not half,  not part. The whole story

Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3 KJV


It's really this simple.

You want to know what time and season you are in and necessary steps to take?  Ask God


I have never called you ‘servants,’ because a master doesn’t confide in his servants, and servants don’t always understand what the master is doing. But I call you my most intimate friends, for I reveal to you everything that I’ve heard from my Father.
John 15:15 TPT

Maybe we don't understand this but when we refuse to know the times and seasons of our lives,  we act like Servants,  orphans and bastards.

Jesus said,  For I reveal to you everything

When Christ left,  he sent the Holy Spirit in His place to reveal to us Everything

As intimate friends and legitimate children of God,  we have access to know everything.

There is a quote that says:

We don't pray Our Father then go right ahead to live as Orphans or bastards

We have access to all secrets because the one who knows all things hidden is in us and the Bible says He reveals it

He even reveals God's secret

I know it sounds hard. I won't even lie to you people,  it's not very very easy like that as it requires discipline.

It took a while for me to get here also

The Key is staying in the secret place

We've over hammered this sentence in 2018. Just stay there a little while longer than usual
 I experienced another level of this this year.

Sometimes I will sit and see a vision of what someone is about to tell me or what is about to happen.
Sometimes I watch it like movie,  then when it happens I just start laughing. Most of the things that happen around me,  I see it before it does. Sometimes I know exactly what people are coming to tell me Word for word.  I was hardly taken by surprise this year

All of these knowledge is from only one person,  the one who knows all things hidden;  GOD

And through the revelation of the Anointed One, he unveiled his secret desires to us—the hidden mystery of his long-range plan, which he was delighted to implement from the very beginning of time.
Ephesians 1:9 TPT

The Lord reveals even His secret desires to us. He tells us hidden things of long-range plan

I cannot reveal my secret to someone that is not my friend.

Sometimes God is revealing but we are not listening or paying attention.

He reveals long-range plan. Do we know what that means?

Ah

There is a weather forecast to announce when seasons change. There were towncriers back then to announce if harvesting came early

Another thing that helps is change in weather or atmosphere. When breeze starts blowing very much,  we know it might be raining soon.  Everyone packs their clothes inside. If you are on the road,  you find a way to get home early

Same for us

When it is time to enter a new season or leave one,  the atmosphere around us changes. Usually we become unsatisfied and uncomfortable in the present season

 Things usually get very hard when seasons are about to change in our lives.

Before winter starts,  there is usually a hard storm to introduce it, But for those that listen to God and understand,  the hardship becomes easier. We walk through it.

We stay closely to God and transition to the next phase safely. Just as we can observe and know when seasons change naturally,  so we can spiritually.

We do not just start knowing and understanding seasons (naturally)  in a day. It is same spiritually, you have to adjust and adapt

After I left Nigeria,  it took me a long while to learn how to dress appropriately in winter. I was usually deceived by the look of the weather (I paid for this). The people that adapted quickly around me weren't affected by the weather much cos they were always dressed for the season.

Why do people miss out on Times and seasons
Have you missed out on any season in your life?

If yes,  why do you think you did?

It could be Lack of connectivity with the Holy spirit, Procrastination, Ignorance, Insensitivity, Spiritual Immaturity, disobedience, lack of knowledge etc.

Another thing people really don't pay attention to is Fear

A lot of us are scared of the change

Seasons bring change. Change in friends/company,  way of life,  devotions, commitments, location etc. Some of us are scared of what that change will take away from us .(Some even unconsciously)

Then for some of us,  it is attachment to the old season

We get too comfortable and refuse to leave. I used to be here

We are scared of what the new is bringing,  what the future holds.

Then for others,  it is fear of that storm that comes before the winter.

We will rather stay in summer forever

Times and seasons involves transition from a phase to another,  therefore it involves change.

Don't be scared of change

Don't be scared of the unknown.  We have a God that is in charge of all things known and unknown


What do you do after recognizing a season?

1. Prepare for it

When it's time to harvest,  farmers start getting laborers or their family ready for this.
When it's time to look for jobs,  you start preparing your CV,  make research about the companies you are applying to etc.

2. Surrender and stay in agreement with God
Times and seasons belong to God,  He is in charge.  He knows how it's going to end so just surrender and allow Him. Let Him know you are in for what He is doing even if you don't fully understand it or it is hard.  Just stay with Him.

3. Walk in the Time/Season

Act in accordance with that time. Don't try to act the way you did in previous seasons. Due to differences in purpose of  these seasons, different approaches might be needed. So, walk in that time/Season.

Do your part. Some people get prophecies (even with a set time)  and somehow it doesn't come to pass. Does it mean God did not speak? No,  it doesn't.

Imagine if Joseph and the people didn't save and act towards the famine that was revealed.  It would have been their fault. Some of us get revelations and prophecies but we do nothing about it.

When someone tells me: God says you will be xyz.  He will dash you all the money in the world

I receive it and go back to God,  What do I do to make sure I don't miss this xyz.  Which country should I position myself to collect the money you are dashing me?

We have a part to play for every season in our lives,  know your part and play it.  God will play His also.

Bad/Tough Seasons

Nobody likes this part. This is the first year that I walked through a tough season willingly,  without complains.  No "God take this away please.  Why is this happening to me"

Here is the hack.  Tough seasons are not bad as we assume. They usually usher in a new and better season,  depending on how handled. Remember Fire doesn't just burn,  it refines

God says,  when you WALK through the fire,  you shall not be burned (Isaiah 43:2)

We are not supposed to run away from fire or the tough seasons.

If you don't walk inside that fire,  you will not know that you are khaleesi. You can't be burned.

The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
Genesis 8:21 NIV

This verse came before God declared that there will be times and seasons in vs 22 and they will never cease.

Never again will I, God destroy all living creatures.

But for as long as the earth remains,  I will make times and seasons and they will not end

There will be a time for the tough ones,  then a time for the smooth and sweet ones.

But God will not destroy you through all or allow them destroy you

 Another sweet part,  if a tough time ends today. Another tough season is coming 😊

We cannot run away from it

 Summer has ended but summer will come again

So yes,  times and seasons are very important.

David when it was time to fight a battle,  he took along with him men that had an understanding of the times.
 And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.
1 Chronicles 12:32 KJV

200 of them were in that battle cos they understood the time.

Who is with you in this journey of life?

Not all your friends will make it for every season. Some will have to be away for a particular season
These 200 men were taken for just this specific battle. Surround yourself with people that are in line with your time and season.


(Some friends will be there for all seasons also)
Friendships are strategic.  Pray to God to reveal all to you.

Jonathan loved David and was his friend for a day such as the one he helped him escape death.
There is a reason everyone is in your life.

A new year is upon us (usually ushering a new season) and most people are already doing,  "I will cut off this and that". "Bad energy stay far away"

I'm not saying you people should not cut off o.  But what is most important and I want us all to reflect and answer these questions to ourselves:

What season am I entering in 2019. Is it a continuation of a season from 2018 or a new one?
This particular question might be hard to ask yourself. If you don't know where you are coming from,  you can't know where you are going to.

So this question is also important.
What season am I leaving. Am I done with this season ?

These are questions you need God to answer

As we leave this night,  please go to God and ask Him. Cry,  beg,  plead,  open up to Him and pay attention.

It could come as a Scripture or even a word you hear in your spirit. Or someone might say something about it to you (without knowing) Just make sure you are attentive and ready to receive these answers

Let us pray

Our dear Lord,  you who is in charge of all times and seasons,  thank you for your word today and all you've taught us. 

Help us to know where we've gone wrong,  the times we've missed and how to remedy them. 
Help us to recognize the times we are entering and how to position properly in them. 
Help us to live this word that you have taught us today. 
We will not miss out on any season but walk through all graciously 
We will testify about this in 2019 in Jesus name. 

Amen