YOU WILL FLOURISH IN EVERY SEASON
Around a week ago, I had a dream about flowers blooming out of season. Let me take you back to the dream. It was morning. I’d gone outside to look at my flowers. When I looked, I saw my 4’O’Clocks blooming at a time my Morning Glory blooms. I quickly took notice of this oddity because the Morning Glory blooms in the morning, and the 4’O’Clocks bloom in the evening.
Soon after waking from the dream, go figure, I forgot about it. Still, this wasn’t for long because God brought the dream back to my remembrance. As I thought about what I saw, I felt the Lord speak to my heart. I felt God say, ‘You will bloom in and out of season.’
Right away, I thought about Psalm 1, so I grabbed my Passion Bible and looked it up. Here’s what it says:
What delight comes to the one who follows God’s ways!
He won’t walk in step with the wicked,
nor share the sinner’s way,
nor be found sitting in the scorner’s seat.His pleasure and passion is remaining true to the Word of “I Am,”
meditating day and night in the true revelation of light.He will be standing firm like a flourishing tree
planted by God’s design,
deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss,
bearing fruit in every season of his life.
He is never dry, never fainting,
ever blessed, ever prosperous. #PSALM1v1to3
Fun fact about me – I still use physical Bibles. Yes, I’m a digital native, but for me, there’s something about turning the pages of a book and writing notes in its margins.
WHAT GOD SAYS WILL HAPPEN WILL HAPPEN
Okay – back to the message! Verse three of this Psalm jumped out at me as God confirmed what He’d spoken, saying you will bear fruit in every season of your life. Now, before you go off thinking that this doesn’t apply to you, let me say it does. It applies to you because this Psalm gives readers the pattern to produce in every season of life.
I live in a region where there are four natural seasons – spring, summer, fall, and winter. In spring, life begins to bloom, during summer life begins to produce, fall brings a harvest, and winter brings things to a close. It is generally not possible to produce something in every season, but Psalm One teaches us that when we live with God at the head of our lives, our season can be all the time.
With all of these thoughts swirling in my head, I got excited for about five seconds before reality hit. Then I thought, well, God, if you say, I’ll produce in every season why doesn’t it always seem like that.
No seriously. Like, I’m intentionally pursuing God’s will vs. my will and even God’s will for my life, but some things are still shaky. Have you ever felt like that?
Well, here is God’s response for me and you. As long as we listen to Him, we will produce in every season of our lives. And what we’re feeling is not warfare it’s obedience.
In Exodus 23, God gives the word that He would help Israel take their land. Here it is:
“I am sending an angel before you to protect you along the way and to lead you to the place that I have prepared for you. Obey the angel and follow him. Be careful in his presence, and don’t rebel against him. The angel will not forgive the wrong things you do to him. He has my power in him. If you listen to what he says and do everything I tell you, then I will be an enemy to all of your enemies. I will be against everyone who is against you. #Exodus23v20to22
What a relief this is, but wait, that’s not it. God goes on to say that he would slowly move their enemies out of the places they were meant to occupy. God made clear why too. Read this:
“When you fight against your enemies, I will send my great power before you. I will help defeat all your enemies. The people who are against you will become confused in battle and run away. I will send the hornet in front of you. He will force your enemies to leave. The Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites will leave your country. But I will not force all of them out of your land quickly. I will not do this in only one year. The land will be empty if I force the people out too fast. Then all the wild animals would increase and control the land. And they would be much trouble for you. So I will force them out of your land very slowly. I will do this as you grow and eventually take the land to be your own. #Exodus23v27to30
GOD’S WAY MAY NOT BE SWIFT, BUT IT’S ABSOLUTE
Obedience and destiny lead Israel into a battle. A battle they could win, nonetheless, because God had promised them victory. God’s victory wouldn’t be instantaneous, but it would be absolute. God chose not to drive out Israel’s enemies quickly for three main reasons:
- Driving out all the inhabitants would destroy their land
- With their land empty, it would be open for animals to occupy
- God wanted to increase Israel’s numbers and presumably their strength so that they could take the land on their own.
This is why what you are facing is not warfare. As you follow God, your obedience is pushing you further into all the promises He has for you. As this happens, it’s also upsetting and pushing out some influences that shouldn’t be there. And the reason God hasn’t given you a quick victory is that He’s preparing you in the process to occupy the land, aka His promise for you.
So, don’t give up and don’t quit. When you get tired, reach out to your friends, to God, and allow the Holy Spirit to bring you comfort. But do not retreat and do not faint. Your success may not be quick, but it will be absolute. For this reason, you can keep going.
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