(The following is a script that was used for the Take Ten with Pastor Don Podcast on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.)

Take Ten with Pastor Don

December 13, 2023

Welcome to Take Ten with Pastor Don. I’m Don McGarvey, pastor of the Troy Mills Christian Church in Troy Mills, Iowa.

I’ve talked before, maybe several times before on the topic of seasons.

I was reminded this morning about how our lives are built around seasons.

Currently we are in the holiday season. It’s Christmas time for most of us while some are enjoying Hanukkah. Both are festive times for families and friends.

But there are others who are in different seasons. Seasons that may not be of their doing.

Some are in tough seasons grieving the loss of loved ones, trying to figure out how to move forward, some are in seasons of great change, while some may be in the final seasons of their time here on earth.

In our family, we are in a season of change. It’s a good change. Recently we celebrated the birth of our second grandchild. We are excited about this season but many changes have come and will continue to come with this new season. We look forward to these times and are more than willing to embrace this season.

I have several friends who are farmers. No one knows more about seasons than farmers.

They know seasons of planting and seasons of harvesting. But there are other seasons that come along. In between planting and harvesting, come seasons of preparation, there is even a season of waiting. Granted, it’s an active season of waiting but they must wait for the crops to grow.

Prior to planting, farmers need to make sure they have everything they are going to need in order to plant their crops.

They need to make sure they have the seed, and that the necessary equipment is ready to go. Breakdowns are expensive and sometimes bring about great delays in planting so this season of preparation is very important.

A few years back, my wife, Kris, and I were flying to a resort in Mexico. It was the month of January. We were excited to leave the cold and snow in the Midwest and were looking forward to the sun, blue skies, and white beaches.

I noticed on the plane a large group of travelers. It was a group of farmers. And as I talked with one of them, we talked about the preparation for planting and all the work involved with being ready. It was a season in and of itself. But he mentioned that this was a season of rest for many of them.

I suspect that many of us miss out on the season of rest because we think we need to be busy all the time.

Seasons come and go. Some are short, some seem to last forever. But we need to understand that just as God, the creator of nature and all things that grow, is also the creator of seasons in our lives.

Solomon wrote of it very well in Ecclesiastes 3. There we find the words that tell us there is a season for all things.

“A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time for war and a time for peace, and a time to love and time to hate.

Nothing, except God, is intended to last forever. All things change. Seasons come and go.

The end of one season is the beginning of another season.

If we pay attention to the marketers of our time, it will appear that some seasons run together. I’m not sure what Solomon would have said about that, but it’s something we must deal with in our world.

As we approach the end of our year, many are thinking about how they did with their New Year resolutions in 2022. Companies are examining how they did with their goals. And are giving careful thought to objectives and goals for the coming year.

It’s a season to ask ourselves questions about how we are doing. To ask, “Where do I want to be in six months, or this time next year?

We need to ask how we are doing with this current season. Are we intentional about what we are doing? Do we know what we need to learn in preparation for the next season? What changes do we need to make to keep learning and moving forward? How do we go about making those changes?

Over the next couple of Pod Casts, I’m going to talk about nine “keys” or “helps” to being ready for the new season.

Just as a tease, the first one is, “I need to accept responsibility for my part” in this next season.

Life isn’t a spectator sport. All seasons come with a “to do” list. We all must take responsibility for our part in each season. God will do His part, always, but we need to actively participate.

Each new season will require something different from us if we expect to grow and continue moving forward. According to Albert Einstein, we can’t continue to do the same thing over and over and get different results. It could be that in a season of rest, we need to learn how to say, “no” to some things that come along.

When we look back, we will see how God used the previous seasons in our lives to prepare for us the coming seasons.

And keep in mind, God promises to never leave us, to walk with us, to give us wisdom, power, and whatever else we may need to keep moving forward in the plans He has for us.

Well, that’s our time for this time. Thanks for taking the time to join us today. And thanks for subscribing to our Pod Cast. But if you haven’t, please ring the bell and subscribe.

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Thanks again for listening, God Bless you!