Don't Despise Your Season

Steffany Gretzinger is a constant encouragement to me. Her music brings me into the presence of God faster than anything else, and her lyrics reach places in me that I didn't even know needed reaching. The other day, I came across a video of her preaching at a conference for people who moved in prophetic giftings. Although her entire message was inspiring, there was a particular moment that resonated strongly with my spirit.

Steffany was discussing that prophetic people tend to rush ahead into things because they've seen and understood promises from the Lord that they're excited about and determined to reach. After admitting that she struggles with rushing, she shared a dream that she received from the Lord in which He urged her not to rush. In her dream, the Lord told her this:

"Be careful, because if you're always looking at something in the future, eventually you'll find yourself there."

In other words, if we're always focused on something that is beyond our reach, we're not truly present in our current surroundings. We're not engaged in day to day life, we're not pouring into people and situations around us, and most importantly, we're not content. We're distracted. We're keeping our eyes so fixed on something in the future and we're so desperate to just reach that point that we're not even living the day of our life that we're currently in. The saddest thing about this is that one day you will reach that point that you were waiting for, but you'll have missed the entire journey there. 

As I was thinking about these things, the Lord began to press something onto my heart. His exact words were these:

"Don't despise your season." 

The correction was humbling and put fear in me. I realized that so many of us live in a constant state of "what's next" and "where am I going." Often, we're plagued with discontentment and we just want whatever thing we've decided upon in our minds is going to make us happy. We can spend a lot of time rushing through a certain season in life, and in doing so, we miss everything that the Lord is trying to accomplish in our lives in the present. I understand that sometimes we want to get out of a season because it's unpleasant, and it's understandable that our flesh reacts with the desire to just flee. However, as much as I hate to admit it, we grow the most and press in the closest to Christ in those seasons where everything just seems hard or dark or quiet.

As I was reflecting on this wisdom, I was weighing it with where my life is currently. I'm currently finishing up what will be my last semester of college before I leave for Groundzero Master's Commission in the Fall. I'm currently living at home with my family still, and I spend most of my free time pouring into the rapidly changing Student Ministry at my church or seeing my friends. I've devoted this time to wringing out as much junk from my spiritual life as I can before I leave for Groundzero, and the Lord has been speaking to me a lot. He's revealed to me that this season is a "planting season" in my life, and that although I may not see any fruit right now, it's growing. 

Although there's nothing awful about this season, I've found challenges in it. For me, the "next big thing" in my life is going to Groundzero in the Fall. It's the first time I'll be away from home, it will be a time of untold spiritual growth, and most importantly, it's where I know the Lord has called me next. It's been easy to take my eyes off of what's going on around me and just focus on what's going to happen next Fall instead. However, I have to keep reminding myself that Groundzero is the next season in my life, and right now I'm living in this season. If I don't focus on this season, I'm going to miss a lot: the remaining time I have with my family, the growth the Lord has for me right now, seeing my friends while I still live around them, being involved in the ministries I'm involved with here...the list could go on and on. And you know what? These are things that I would never want to miss. It's not worth the world to rush past this season with all of its moments and treasures and opportunities.

Everybody has seasons in their lives that they want to skip. But hindsight is bittersweet, and if we press on too fast, we're going to miss too much. God is sovereign, and His timing is perfect. If we accept that as truth (and it is), we need to submit to it and start appreciating where He has us at this moment. Instead of rushing, pray for wisdom and discernment so that you can see what He's trying to teach you in this season. Don't despise the waiting. Soon enough, we'll reach "those places" that were promised and hoped for, so make sure that when you get there, you can look back and know that you walked step by step through the process. You don't want to have to look back and realize that you closed your eyes and dashed blindly down the path to the future.

We grow and develop by pressing through situations, not by skipping over them. There's no way to be built into a solid being if we're leaving huge gaps in our foundation by skipping the processes that we need to experience in certain seasons. However, if we skip seasons, "holes" are all we're left with and we can't get the time back.

 Be content, be strong. Keep your eyes on the Lord, focus on this day, and don't miss out.

(Below is the preaching by Steffany Gretzinger that I reference here. It's worth the watch! She comes in about five minutes into the video)

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Seasons,-Of-Life#sthash.ObjxlTZ3.dpuf

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that." - See more at: http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Seasons,-Of-Life#sthash.ObjxlTZ3.dpuf