Last Sunday, Pastor Herk preached how, like the four seasons that the earth progresses through each year with their unique climate and associated characteristics, our lives go through seasons from cradle to grave with little seasons of upsides (good times) and downsides (bad times), in-season and out-of-season along life’s path (some naturally caused and some manmade). The past Sunday, he spoke about spiritual famine in the land caused by a lack of hearing the words of the Lord and we’re experiencing this famine today which is creating chaos, confusion, strife and the dismantling of society because sin and evil have more of an impact on the culture than God’s holy Word does. We have to be aware of the spiritual famines of our day and make sure that it doesn’t enter our lives individually. Since the first sin in the Garden of Eden, this spiritual famine has been a potential in our own lives ever since. On this side of eternity, we shall have sin in this fallen world, but sin and faith are in direct proportion to each other. The Apostle Paul explains in Galatians 5:16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” And the stronger the Christian faith in our church and nation, then the less sin there is in the land and the better seasons of life the land experiences and spiritual famine is a danger in any season of our life.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 “To everything there is a season, a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to gain, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” Our faith is a gift from God. Romans 12:3b “God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” There is not one of us that are not going to face difficult times and times of great joy in our life, seasons of hard work and seasons of rest, periods of lean and stints of plenty. It can be a Roller-Coaster ride, but God can use each one of those stretches in our life to teach us something about who He is and how much He loves us. Do you keep your mind’s eye on the Lord and know His love for you? You were to die for! We may never fully understand God’s plan for our lives, but our “glass is half full” attitude towards life’s challenges is so important to our success. When we see good times and bad times as opportunities to grow closer to God, then we are going to see great benefits to grow closer to our heavenly Father and you end up on solid ground. We have to faces the times in which we live, but the Lord tells us: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33), and “lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).
Let's continue Pastor Herk's message in the next Post.
In Christ, Brian
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