Seasons
Ecclesiastes 3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.
Solomon then proceeds to list a bunch of contrasting seasons. The reality is, there are a billion things that we're going to walk with God through, not all of it will happen at the same time, nor will we all experience it in the same order. The path to spiritual maturity is not generic, or successive; we don't receive for x number of years and then never be in a receiving season again.
Us having many different seasons in our lives will result in some bits where we'll focus on receiving and other bits where we'll focus on giving. We'll go back and forth between those and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Jesus himself alludes to seasons:
Mark 2:18 Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 19 And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. 20 The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
Luke 10:38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Mary and Martha is probably the clearer example of the two. Notice that Jesus doesn't say that what Martha was doing was wrong, or bad, but in His presence Mary has chosen what is better. So there will be seasons where we will be doing, serving, giving, and there will be seasons where God will wish us to drop it all to sit at His feet for a while.
I'm going to walk you guys through the 4-5 years after my testimony from retreat, where I needed to have taken a step back and focus on me and God rather than other people and God. Looking back, the next level in your calling in the kingdom is almost always precluded by a deep off season, where God is preparing you inside and out. It took a few years for me to get worked over and transformed to the point where I can sit in front of all of you and give out of joy, hope, and peace.
Seasons of Revelation
Story "Flipping tables"If you're burning with zeal, burning white hot for something in God's kingdom, but you notice there's not much peace, joy, hope in that, just lots of criticism and negativity, then perhaps (not always, sometimes people are just plain negative and critical) God is revealing something to you that you don't know what to do with yet.
It would be a good idea to step back from leading (especially if you're leading the thing you're getting revelation on) and take the time to sort out not just what God is saying to you, but what He wants you to do about it right here right now, and what attitude you are to carry while doing so. Don't just take the first revelation and run flailing and screaming with it. Often times God has much more to say to you beyond that first "rock your world" moment.
Seasons of Healing
Story "If you could do it better the first time why didn't you?"Of course healing could be about recent trauma, like someone's passing, or romantic relationships ending badly, etc. A deeper need for healing in all of us is how we were parented and brought up, which often times significant skews how we view God and what we think He wishes of us, as we project our earthly parents, with all their flaws and imperfections, onto our heavenly Father.
We are certainly not going to blame our parents. Most of our parents did the best they could given their own hurts and struggles. They were never going to be able to parent us like our heavenly Father would. And in our seasons of inner healing we'll recognize how our view of God has been tinted by our parents and our childhood in general, and we will begin walking into a fuller view of our relationship Him.
This is a season that we'll return to again and again in our lifetime, as God peels back the layers to reveal to us the roots of our inner desires, and it's important for us to take the time to let God get as deep as He needs to in any given season of healing.
Seasons in the Desert
Story "The year and a half before being sent back to CCF"Sometimes, you really have no idea why you're having the down time that you're having. Sometimes you'll feel like you really really want to do something or have something, and that you're so ready for it, but God's giving you like zero, zilch, nothing. Not only that, He probably won't even tell you what's going on or why that is.
Quite often during these times God is allowing His revelation and His healing to stew and coalesce into new desires; to refine, sometimes even redefine what you hunger after. James 1 says from desire comes sin comes death, so ultimately God is going to have us take the time to let all those new perspectives and convictions transform our wants and perceived needs. Only when your desires change would changes in your behaviour be permanent and be out of joy.
When you start noticing these seasons, don't view it as some obstacle and try to rush and power through it so you can get back to doing stuff. Even if you've had a bunch of receiving seasons before, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with having another one. That's just how God has charted your journey and you ought to focus on sitting at His feet rather than giving and serving, being Mary rather than Martha.
God is trying to get our attention and our gaze, to get us to sit down with him, and it'll be up to Him how much of that He wants in your season. There isn't anything we can do to make it shorter, but I guarantee you if you struggle against it and dismiss it or rush through it it'll take a heck of a lot longer than God needed it to. The longer it takes for you to surrender whatever Martha thing you wanted to do and receive from Him, the longer it's going to take before God can move you forward with Him.
Season of Giving
So what does a season for giving look and feel like?
There is of course no single definitive answer here; it'll look a little different for everyone. A key word I like to use is overflow, operating out of an abundance of joy, love, hope, and peace. It certainly doesn't mean you need to be absolutely healed of everything before you can give, so it's good idea to seek out and trust the discernment of the people that love you and are walking with you. Sometimes we get so caught up in our season that we can't see it, and frequently inviting our close brothers or sisters to observe what God is doing with us is a great way to help everyone along in our journeys with God.
