The God of Time and Seasons

The God of Time and Seasons

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

1 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.


As I was driving home today God dropped in my spirit that there is a time and season for everything. I begin to wonder why a God who is not bound by time and who controls the seasons; has us, his children, His creations, to operate in time, space, and seasons? I contemplate this as I’m driving home and He slowly begins to reveal to me, that the problem isn’t his omnipotence, but our ignorance. It isn’t that our ignorance makes us sinful, but the sin is that we are given the keys to obtain knowledge; yet we choose to remain ignorant. He has us to operate in seasons, because we are unable to grasp the importance of following His will. He has us to operate in time, because we would never grow or learn, if we could remain unchangeable through time and space as He does. I was convinced at one point that God did not operate in seasons, but boy was I wrong.

It is imperative that you notice the very first statement in our text, To everything there is a SEASON, and a TIME to every purpose under heaven. This is an affirmation from God. He has declared that everything under heaven will be dictated by time, and governed by his season. There is no way around this; we either choose to follow God’s seasonal declaration for everything, and choose God’s purpose for time; or we choose our own way. So here I was shown that God governs our lives through time and season. Now for some of you I know you may be saying, “hey I already knew this about God, tell me something I don’t know,” well my friend, God revealed to me that the reason we’re not prospering, the reason we are not walking in His INTENTIONAL blessings, the reason we are not walking in His favor; simply because we do not want to operate in God’s time or His seasons for our lives; instead we want to make our own seasons and make Him move with our timing.

We are RMP (R-I-M-P) “Reaping- Minded- People,” we solely operate in a reaping mentality and not in a sowing capacity. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” the Bible also says in 2 Corinthians 9:6, “But this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” What did you notice in these two scriptures? If you answered that there is not only a time/season for reaping, but also a time/season for sowing, then reader you are absolutely right. Neither scripture stated that you will just reap; why are we RMP, when there must be sowing to reap? Ok you’re still not convinced I will show you some other scriptures that speak to this principle of sowing and reaping.

Job 4: 8, “As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.”
1 Timothy 5:17-18, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.”

Luke 6:38, “Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

You see in each of these scriptures there was work/action/initial season/timing, and then there was action/reward/new season/cyclical timing. Yes, that is the missing link; we sit back and wonder how God can be blessing everyone else, when we have been faithful and true; we’ve been singing in the choir, paying out tithes, etc; God is saying you think you’re entitled to a blessing, but all you do is prematurely eat your harvest. All you do (Joseph) is eat your fruit before it is ripe. You do not put your hand to the plow, but you expect a plentiful harvest; all you did was sit and watch others work. I know I’m not the only one guilty of this. You can’t expect a harvest without doing some work; even in the blessings department.

Don’t believe me look: Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. “ There was action with every reaction family. You have to act in God’s will, God’s timing, and God’s season. There is a time to ask and a time to be given. A season for seeking and a season for finding; if you can’t sit in PRAYER (ONE OF THE CONSTANT SEASONS) then you won’t be able to discover whether God has you in your SOWING season or your REAPING season.

Please don’t think that your reaping is simply a time for you to sit back and get your blessings; no when it was time for the season of harvest, the harvesters went out and picked up there reward. They GATHERED (VERB) their harvest. I’m not saying God won’t just have you sit still and have your harvest/blessings poured on you, but you have to be aware of what SEASON of harvest it is. Are you still not convinced of the time and season for your life? Alright let’s look at David’s example of not operating God’s season and timing:

2 Samuel 11:1- “And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Jo’ab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the Children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.” David was supposed to be in his season of battle, but he decided to move on his own timing and make his own season; we all know what happened as a result. David’s season was not to be at home resting, but to be out with his army fighting for the Lord. He instead chose to stay at home; ended up seducing another man’s wife, getting her pregnant, killing her husband, losing his child, and causing the sword to never leave his home. (Talk about reaping and sowing.)

I know I talked your head off, but what I hope you gained from this is that you begin to look at what season you are in. Ask God to help you to operate in His Will, His Time, and His Seasons. This includes our Relationships, Finances, Jobs, Unemployment, etc. If you truly begin to try and SEEK God’s will for your life, He will reveal what your season is and what you should be doing in your season. If God can change the seasons from Summer, Winter, Spring, and Fall; then He can definitely reveal to you whether you are in your season of REAPING or SOWING.

God Bless You,
jwriter