In episode 174, “Press On Through Seasons of Life”, we discuss seasons of preparation, growth, pruning, and harvesting throughout our lives. Learn to use your experiences to strengthen your relationship with God and others. We begin our book study mini series over Autumn Miles’ book, “I Am Rahab” in episode 172, and it goes through episode 187. Learn how Rahab’s story mirrors our lives of being touched by God and fully restored.
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Soil/Preparation Season
We know if you’ve lived a little life, you know that seasons change. “Change is the only constant,” right? So instead of fearing change or running away from it, let’s face it head on and embrace the life stage we’re in. “The days are long, but the years are short.” You’ve heard all of these before, but have you stepped into action and really challenged yourself on what each particular season can do for you and your relationship with God and others?
Step One: Don’t skip a season. We know there are days we all want a do over, or to just press the skip button on the witching hour phase of your newborn (No shame, people! We’ve all got our thing that can send us over the edge). We urge you to please pause, and pray. Talk to God. Ask Him what you’re needing to learn in this season. In episode 174, “Press On Through Seasons of Life”, we give specific examples as well has what David Griffin from episode 25 asks his children in their tough moments:
- Where am I? (Exactly where God wants me to be)
- Why am I here? (Because He wants to teach me something)
- Why does He want to teach me? (To be more conformed to Christ)
Step Two: Keep showing up. You may be in a season of soil and preparation. You get your hands dirty, and some days it doesn’t feel like you’ve made any strides. Some days, you can look back and see how far you come. Growth in anything isn’t overnight. It takes commitment, discipline, and showing up in the hard moments of a possibly thankless season. Stick with it!
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9
God has spoken you to you about that thing you know you need to step up and do. The Holy Spirit has planted something deep in you, and now it’s your time to act. Do not miss the chance to participate in God’s great plan.
Sowing Seeds
You may have heard the parable in Matthew about seeds. Here it is in case you don’t have your Bible handy:
“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.”
Matthew 13: 3-9
Bonus points if you go read the whole section because it talks about what Jesus was saying to the people. In episode 174, “Press On Through Seasons of Life”, we talk about how this not only is a parable about your environment, but very much your mental mindset as well. What are you consuming? When you read God’s word is it falling among thorns and getting choked out with lies from satan? Are you just putting aside what the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do for whatever reason that’s out of your comfort zone? Check your headspace!
Pruning
Not a gardener? No problem! Everyone can understand pruning. All it means is cut away all the unnecessary bits or pieces that are holding you back form reaching your fullest potential in Christ Jesus. Now we know you’re think, “Wow! That sounds so amazing! Chop away, Jesus!” Right… Pruning isn’t aways pretty, but it’s always necessary.
“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”
John 15:2
Pruning isn’t mean, reread the text. “That it may bear more fruit.” God’s not cutting things away because He’s mean; He’s doing it so that you can glorify and further the kingdom. Here’s the catch, you can choose to follow the Holy Spirit as it nudges you along in the pruning, or you can choose not to grow the way you were designed to. Ouch!
In episode 174, “Press On Through Seasons of Life”, we talk about what this looks like, where and how to prune, and how if it’s not taken care of, you can look up one day and not recognize the girl you used to be. Do you have a solid Christian community helping keep you in check? Are you staying in God’s word and applying it? Who is helping prune you in your life right now? Tune into the episode and see who does this for us!
Harvest Season
Hooray! You’ve put in the work during the season of soil and preparation. Muscled through sowing seeds, and taken on the pruning season with grace. Now, here comes the harvest! PRO TIP BEFORE YOU READ FURTHER: The harvest season isn’t just about you. Maybe read that one more time for fun. There will be season of life that you bust it for years, and you’re the one who doesn’t reap the Earlthy benefits. And that’s okay!
Remember that ultimately, your reward is in Jesus alone. Sure, there may be happy byproducts here on Earth because you’ve followed the call. That can look like a raise, a healthy marriage, kids who love Jesus, etc… So now that you’ve gone full season cycles, guess what? It’s time to leverage!
You now have a step by step blueprint of how you did what you did, and you can turn that information around to those who are right in that journey. Those tough seasons will serve you and others later. You may be going through something right now that in ten years time your child will be going through. What a blessing to be able to guide them every step of the way. So ask yourself, what will you do with your harvest?
We hope you enjoyed episode 174, “Press On Through Seasons of Life” and that you have practical, actionable steps you can take. Be sure to check out this entire I Am Rahab mini series about learning how Rahab’s story mirrors our lives of being touched by God and fully restored. Dig deep to grow closer to God in this mini series. You can do this! We’re here to help. Click the affiliate image below to get your copy of Autumn Miles’ book.
