Featured Articles
What Season Are You In?
By Gary Khan
I grew up in a place that experienced two seasons: the dry season and the rainy season.
Then I moved to California, and I got to experience one season – the dry season. I have heard that many Americans experience four seasons: spring, summer, fall, and winter. Must be nice. Yet, whether we experience two seasons or all four, seasons represent different times in our human existence, and they are integral to our life experience. Solomon, the wise king and philosopher, echoes that sentiment when he says that to everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). Some time ago as I was going through a somewhat dry season of my own, I heard Rev. Gary Emery, a former Open Bible Pacific Regional Superintendent, speak about seasons. His words led me to explore this idea of seasons further. The following observations are the results of that sermon and my subsequent further exploration.
SEASONS ARE PROVIDENTIAL
Seasons are created and directed by God. The prophet Daniel proclaimed, “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning” (Daniel 2:20-21, NIV). Similarly, Luke writes in Acts that God is the source of our life, breath, and everything we need. He is the One who determines where we reside, and it is through Him that we are able to live, to do what we do, and to be who we are (Acts 17:25-28).
God ordains the seasons we are in. He placed us in this world in these times and in this season. We may not be happy with God’s choice of timing, but none of it is by chance or error.
SEASONS ARE PURPOSEFUL
From before our birth to the moment of our death, God is accomplishing His divine purposes. Every event in our lives has a season, an appropriate time – not produced in some random order, but in a manner that’s charged with God’s purpose (even though we may not always understand His purpose). The prophet Isaiah declared that God shaped our life in our mother’s womb (Isaiah 44:24), and the prophet Jeremiah lets us in on God’s declaration to him that “even before He made him in his mother’s womb, He knew Jeremiah and chose him for a special work” (Jeremiah 1:5). Solomon informs us that if we cooperate with God’s purposes and timing life will not be meaningless. Everything, even the most difficult experiences of life, will be “beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
“And we know that all that happens to us is working for our good if we love God
and are fitting into his plans” (Romans 8:28, TLB).
Pause for a moment and ponder the four seasons that God has ordained. Even without much deep thought we can easily see some of their purposes. Spring is the time of beginnings, exciting opportunities, and anticipation for the future. Seeds planted during this season will take root and mature during summer’s labor, producing a harvest in the fall, when we get to reap the rewards of our efforts. Everything draws to a close in winter.
Often, we think of childhood and youth as springtime, while summer represents the emerging prime of life. Fall starts somewhere beyond middle age, and everything slows and fades to a finish in elderly wintertime.
Applying the seasons to our growth, our progress, or our advancement, we can recognize that each season is unique and adds important dimensions to life.
- Spring is about potential, promise, planning, and possibilities. It’s a time of opportunities and beginnings.
- Summer is a time of growth and maturation. The seeds we planted during spring mature into full-sized plants. Summer is a season of work, when we invest the time and effort required to become good at what we do.
- Autumn is the season of harvest. We see the production/reward of our labors. Our hard work begins to pay off.
- Winter is the season of winding down, withdrawal, retreat, and closure. Activities, responsibilities, and relationships draw to a close. This is the time of ending. It also represents a period of rest, restoration, and reflection.
God has a purpose for every season we go through.
SEASONS ARE PASSING
Seasons are not permanent, and until God stops the process, the cycle will repeat. The season in which you now find yourself will soon pass. Once winter passes, another spring is at the doorstep.
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19, NIV).
Seasons do not last forever; they are transient. They will pass and another season will be upon us. Understanding that our seasons are passing, providential, and purposeful is valuable; however, of greater value is what we do in those seasons. What should be our response to each?
“The night may be filled with tears, but in the morning we can sing for joy!” (Psalm 30:5, ERV).
Embrace your season.
Often our first response to a challenging season is to complain our way through, which inadvertently prolongs the season or at the very least makes it seem longer that it is. As a result, we waste a cycle and must wait to repeat the season.
The Israelites serve as a prime example of this. It took them forty years to grasp the necessary lessons of trust and obedience to God before they could enter the Promised Land. Instead of seizing the opportunity immediately, they had to endure repetitive seasons over four decades. Remember that seasons are part of God’s providential plan, unfolding in a specific time and sequence with a purpose. No matter the season we find ourselves in, it is vital to fully engage with it and embrace it.
All too often people want to skip a season. We want to jump straight from the idealistic stage of spring to the harvest season of autumn without investing the necessary effort and diligence we must put in during summer. However, this inclination often disrupts the entire process. The way we handle one season profoundly impacts how we experience the seasons that follow. What we sow in one season directly impacts the harvest we reap in another. Embracing each season in its proper sequence and faithfully fulfilling the tasks and responsibilities it entails is crucial for a fruitful and fulfilling journey.
“And let us not get tired of doing what is right, for after a while we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t get discouraged and give up “ (Galatians 6:9, TLB).
On the other hand, clinging to a season too long can also have adverse effects. Imagine wearing summer clothes in the middle of winter simply because you are reluctant to let go of summer and embrace the reality of winter. Such a choice would be uncomfortable, unproductive, and often detrimental. We sometimes hold onto a particular season as a drowning person would desperately clutch a piece of flotsam, unwilling to release it and transition into a new phase. This clinging can hinder our growth and prevent us from fully embracing the opportunities that the next season holds.
So, we have season rushers and season graspers. Neither is good. The way to live the most fulfilling life possible is to recognize when it is time to let go, allowing ourselves to move forward and gracefully enter the new season that awaits us. We need to be “season sensitive” in how we live, but keep in mind that no season is perfect. Each has its unique problems.
The way we handle one season profoundly impacts how we experience
the seasons that follow.
Spring’s gentle showers can turn into torrential rains that seem to flood everything. Or the opposite happens. We are left expecting rain to come and it never does. Other times (like this year), it seems as if winter just keeps going through spring. We want to move to the next season, but the current season persists.
Summer can become scorching and dry, and we must toil in the beating sun. We want to run from the heat and look for shade and the air-conditioner. In the fall, early frost can damage the harvest.
Again, no season is perfect, and we have no control over them. But before you throw up your hands in despair, remember we do have control over our response to the season. The choices we make today have the potential to produce compounded results in the future. The hard work we put in during our summer determines the rewards of autumn and the comfort of winter. You cannot enjoy a bumper crop in autumn if you waste your summer taking siestas. So embrace your season. It is going to happen whether you like it or not.
Explore your season.
Learn and see what God is doing.
“Learn a lesson from a fig tree. When its branches sprout and start putting out leaves, you know that summer is near” (Matthew 24:32, CEV).
To get the most out of where you are, you must understand the characteristics of your season. When we recognize the season, we need to make necessary adjustments to get the most out of it. Enlist the help of others, especially those who may have gone through what you are now going through or those who are in a different season who can offer you encouragement. What we must not do is stay away from others because we are angry that they are in springtime while we are in the heat of summer.
Inquire of God:
- What lessons are you teaching me?
- What actions do I need to be taking?
- What is my plan moving forward?
Esteem your season.
Recognize God is in control.
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, NIV).
Don’t forget, seasons are God ordained and purposeful. God is working all things for His good purposes. So, enjoy the season you are in. Do not despise it; do not run from it; do not have a bad attitude about it. Instead of being unhappy or even fearful about where we are, we should be praying:
Father, You have placed me here at this time. How do You want to use me? How can I be available to You so that You can work out Your purposes in this place? ”
Are you in spring? Times of beginnings can be invigorating, and spring offers brand new opportunities and possibilities. In springtime you may feel like you are invincible and don’t recognize your dependence on God. You may be excited about the possibilities, but take time to understand how those opportunities stack up against God’s purposes. The decisions you make in this season of promise will determine much for the other seasons.
Are you in summer? The seeds we planted during spring have matured into full-sized plants. Some of you are close to harvest. Do not give up now. You are hot and tired and nearing the edge of exhaustion and you want to jump ahead to fall, but to jump ahead would be short-circuiting what God is doing in you. Stay the course. Keep tilling, keep watering, keep tending the crop, and don’t give up.
Are you in fall? Your hard work is beginning to pay off. It is easy to get prideful in this season and think that your success is all your own doing. It is also easy to devalue other’s input. But how you handle this season of harvest sets you up for the next cycle of seasons.
Are you in winter? Maybe your activities, responsibilities, and relationships are winding down. This is the time of finishing well. It is a period of rest, restoration, and reflection.
Remember your calling.
“Preach the Word of God urgently at all times, whenever you get the chance, in season and out, when it is convenient and when it is not ” (2 Timothy 4:2, TLB).
In every season you are a witness to God’s power and sovereignty. Your response in your seasons of good and bad, blessings and challenging times preaches a message to the people around you. What is your response to the seasons of your life communicating to those around you about God?
About the Author
Gary Khan served as pastor of Desert Streams Church of the Open Bible in Santa Clarita, California, for 32 years. He currently serves as the Executive Director of Operations for Marketplace Chaplains in Southern California. He also serves as district director for the Southern California/Arizona/Hawaii district of Open Bible Churches. Gary is author of the devotionals Greater and Reset as well as his book, That Didn’t Go the Way I Thought: Navigating the Ups and Downs of Our Journey of Faith. Gary’s greatest achievement and joy is that of being husband to DeLaine for the past 32 years and father of three amazing kids (two biological and one “adopted”).
Isaac dug out again the wells that were dug during the lifetime of his father Abraham. The Philistines had closed them up after Abraham’s death. Isaac gave them the same names his father had given them. Isaac’s servants dug wells in the valley and found a well there with fresh water. (Genesis 26:18-19 CEB).
I came to faith as a teenager and had very few church experiences up to that point. My earliest formation as a Christ follower took place within Open Bible church settings, where I found deep community and meaningful spiritual experiences that I continue to value. At the same time, as in many modern evangelical churches, there was limited exposure to the ancient liturgies and historic practices of the wider Church.
These traditional cornerstones that were foundational to ecclesial life for millennia had been almost eliminated in the churches I attended. It seemed to me that these practices were at best met with ignorance and at worst with grave suspicion. The predictable result was that any real understanding and appreciation for ancient liturgical practices was absent from the first two decades of my church life. I rarely thought about things like Ash Wednesday services, the Book of Common Prayer, and Advent, and if I did, it was with a healthy side dish of uninformed judgment. I viewed Lent the same way I viewed lentils: it was a cold and exotic experience that was both frightening to prepare and painful to consume.
I viewed Lent the same way I viewed lentils: it was a cold and exotic experience that was both frightening to prepare and painful to consume.
This was my context as a few of our church staff began asking whether we could introduce some of these ancient practices into our church worship experience. As you might imagine given my church background, it took me a while to warm up to the idea. I began a process of asking questions, listening, and learning, even reaching out to an Anglican priest friend to hear his take on the value of these long-held traditions. Through all this, Christ in His goodness and patience has allowed us now to incorporate many of these practices into our regular church experience. As a result, I am happy to report that we are experiencing wonderful depth and meaning in our gatherings as we’ve adopted and applied some of these long-proven elements of discipleship.
Our time of worship now always includes the public reading of a Psalm (a practice we have adopted from the Book of Common Prayer) to bring us back to the ancient hymn book of Israel. We have a fresh understanding of what it is to give up something physical in order to gain something spiritual as we fast in the forty days of Lent. Christmas time and the lighting of Advent candles help us celebrate Christ’s first arrival while reminding us to await His second arrival. And Ash Wednesday, with its outward sign of repentance and mortality, leads us to humble ourselves before God, understanding how desperately we need His saving grace. Finally, the celebration of life on Easter Sunday has far greater meaning now because it is preceded by the sobriety of the death we remember on Good Friday.
This is not to say that incorporating these elements has always been smooth. We’ve learned to introduce them slowly and with great attention to the “why” behind the “what.” Along the way, we’ve had our share of growth opportunities and mishaps. One example happened early on in our journey, when we tried to introduce some ancient call and response types of prayers. The practice led several people to worry that we had become a completely different kind of church. We haven’t yet reintroduced those prayers in our services.
We have found that moving slowly and consistently, explaining the meaning of the practices, and laughing at ourselves through our failed attempts have been the key ingredients to discovering the power of these ancient gifts.
Another example took place during last year’s Ash Wednesday service. During this type of service, ash is used to mark the sign of a cross on each believer’s forehead. This marking symbolizes our own mortality and repentance, as we take up our cross and turn from our sins. Well, our beloved worship leader wanted to add scent to the ashes to create a fuller sensory experience. To do so, he incorporated essential oils, including cinnamon, into the ashes. Little did any of us know that undiluted cinnamon oil burns on the skin. Talk about your full sensory experience. All of us in the service sat wondering what it reveals about our spiritual condition if the ash cross on our forehead feels like it’s on fire. There was a great sigh of relief when our executive pastor let people know what had happened, and a mad dash to the bathrooms ensued as people quickly washed away the painful marker. The next Sunday I formally apologized for turning their Ash Wednesday into a Rash Wednesday.
In these moments and more, we have found that moving slowly and consistently, explaining the meaning of the practices, and laughing at ourselves through our failed attempts have been the key ingredients to discovering the power of these ancient gifts. Just as Isaac reopened the ancient wells of his father to discover pure water, we too can rediscover the meaning of these ancient practices in our churches and experience their fresh water again.
About the Author
Aaron Sutherland is the founding pastor of Cove Church in Eugene, Oregon, and the Director of Multiplication for Pacific Region Open Bible. Along with his wife, Paula, he finds great joy in watching God reveal the new stories being written into the lives of people from every corner of the world.
Y volvió a abrir Isaac los pozos de agua que habían abierto en los días de Abraham su padre, y que los filisteos habían cegado después de la muerte de Abraham; y los llamó por los nombres que su padre los había llamado. Pero cuando los siervos de Isaac cavaron en el valle, y hallaron allí un pozo de aguas vivas. (Génesis 26:18-19, RVR-1960).
Me convertí al cristianismo en la adolescencia y, hasta ese momento, había tenido muy pocas experiencias en la iglesia. Mi formación inicial como seguidor de Cristo tuvo lugar en la iglesia de la Biblia Abierta, donde encontré una comunidad profunda y experiencias espirituales significativas que sigo valorando. Al mismo tiempo, como en muchas iglesias evangélicas modernas, el contacto con las antiguas liturgias y prácticas de la Iglesia en general era limitado.
Estos pilares tradicionales, que durante milenios habían sido fundamentales para la vida de la Iglesia, habían sido prácticamente eliminados de las iglesias a las que asistía. Me parecía que, en el mejor de los casos, estas prácticas se ignoraban y, en el peor, se miraban con gran recelo. El resultado previsible fue que, durante las dos primeras décadas de mi vida eclesiástica, no llegué a conocer ni a apreciar realmente estas antiguas prácticas litúrgicas. Rara vez pensaba en cosas como los servicios del Miércoles de Ceniza, el Libro de Oración Común y el Adviento, y, si lo hacía, era con una buena dosis de prejuicios. Veía la Cuaresma de la misma manera que veía las lentejas: una experiencia fría y exótica que daba miedo preparar y era dolorosa de consumir.
Veía la Cuaresma de la misma manera que veía las lentejas: una experiencia fría y exótica que daba miedo preparar y era dolorosa de consumir.
Este era mi contexto cuando algunos miembros del personal de nuestra iglesia comenzaron a preguntar si podríamos incorporar algunas de estas prácticas antiguas en nuestra experiencia de adoración en la iglesia. Como se pueden imaginar, dada mi formación eclesiástica, me llevó un tiempo aceptar la idea. Empecé a hacer preguntas, a escuchar y a aprender. Incluso me puse en contacto con un amigo sacerdote anglicano para conocer su opinión sobre el valor de estas tradiciones tan arraigadas. A través de todo esto, Cristo, en su bondad y paciencia, nos ha permitido ahora incorporar muchas de estas prácticas en nuestra experiencia eclesiástica habitual. Me complace informar de que nuestras reuniones tienen ahora una profundidad y un significado maravillosos en nuestras reuniones, ya que hemos adoptado y aplicado algunos de estos elementos del discipulado que han demostrado su eficacia con el paso del tiempo.
Ahora, nuestro tiempo de adoración siempre incluye la lectura pública de un salmo (una práctica que hemos adoptado del Libro de Oración Común) que nos transporta al antiguo himnario de Israel. Tenemos una nueva comprensión de lo que significa renunciar a algo material o para ganar algo espiritual mientras ayunamos durante los cuarenta días de Cuaresma. La época navideña y la ceremonia de encender las velas de Adviento nos ayudan a celebrar la primera Venida de Cristo, y a recordar que debemos esperar su segunda venida. Y el Miércoles de Ceniza, con su signo externo de arrepentimiento y mortalidad, nos invita a humillarnos ante Dios, y a reconocer cuán desesperadamente necesitamos su gracia salvadora. Por último, la celebración de la vida el Domingo de Pascua tiene ahora un significado mucho mayor, ya que va precedida de la sobriedad de la muerte que recordamos el Viernes Santo.
Esto no quiere decir que la incorporación de estos elementos siempre haya sido fácil. Hemos aprendido a introducirlos poco a poco, prestando mucha atención al «porqué» detrás del «qué». A lo largo del camino, hemos tenido nuestras oportunidades de crecimiento y nuestros contratiempos. Un ejemplo ocurrió al principio de nuestro camino, cuando intentamos introducir algunas oraciones antiguas de llamada y respuesta. La práctica llevó a varias personas a preocuparse de que nos hubiéramos convertido en un tipo de iglesia completamente diferente. Todavía no hemos reintroducido esas oraciones en nuestros servicios.
Hemos descubierto que movernos lenta y consistentemente, explicar el significado de las prácticas y reírnos de nosotros mismos a través de nuestros intentos fallidos han sido los ingredientes clave para descubrir el poder de estos antiguos dones.
Otro ejemplo ocurrió durante el servicio del Miércoles de Ceniza del año pasado. En este tipo de servicio, se utiliza ceniza para trazar una cruz en la frente de cada creyente. Esta marca simboliza nuestra propia mortalidad y arrepentimiento, y representa el momento en que tomamos nuestra cruz y nos apartamos de nuestros pecados. Bueno, nuestro querido líder de adoración quiso añadir aroma a las cenizas para crear una experiencia sensorial más completa. Para ello, añadió aceites esenciales, entre ellos canela, a las cenizas. Ninguno de nosotros sabía que el aceite de canela sin diluir quema la piel. Hablando de una experiencia sensorial completa… Todos los que estábamos en el servicio nos sentamos preguntándonos qué revelaba acerca de nuestra condición espiritual el hecho de que la cruz de ceniza de nuestra frente pareciera estar ardiendo. Hubo un gran suspiro de alivio cuando nuestro pastor ejecutivo informó a la gente de lo que había sucedido, y se produjo una carrera loca hacia los baños para lavarse rápidamente la dolorosa marca. Al domingo siguiente me disculpé formalmente por haber convertido su Miércoles de Ceniza en un Miércoles de Erupción.
En este y en otros momentos, hemos descubierto que avanzar lentamente y con constancia, explicar el significado de las prácticas y reírnos de nosotros mismos ante nuestros intentos fallidos han sido los ingredientes clave para descubrir el poder de estos antiguos legados. Al igual que Isaac reabrió los antiguos pozos de su padre para encontrar agua pura, nosotros también podemos redescubrir el significado de estas antiguas prácticas en nuestras iglesias y volver a experimentar su agua fresca
.
Sobre el autor
Aaron Sutherland es el pastor fundador de la iglesia Cove Church en Eugene, Oregón, y director de Multiplicación de la región del Pacífico de la Biblia Abierta. Junto con su esposa, Paula, disfruta ver cómo Dios escribe nuevas historias en la vida de personas de todo el mundo.
I wonder what happened on all the August 5ths throughout my life. I experienced forty-seven of them as an innocuous number on the calendars of my life: unremarkable, ordinary, plain. I breezed past them without a thought and left them behind without a thought, too.
I will never forget my forty-eighth August 5th. For the rest of my (hopefully) long life, every 5th day of August will be marked in red and circled with a thick highlighter of remembrance. That is the date my husband Josh and I received the phone call that every parent dreads – the kind you read about in someone else’s story and pray never crosses into your own.
But on August 5, 2025, it did.
Fear is many things at once: a glacial wash that starts on your head and drains to your immobilized feet, a taste in your mouth and a sound in your ears, and a fist that strangles your throat.
We were on top of a mountain in Idaho during a church staff retreat when the Life360 app on my phone — an app our family uses to share locations and receive crash or emergency notifications — suddenly and jarringly blared a warning, alerting me that our middle daughter, Adelaide, was involved in a critical incident.
I cannot explain the cold fear that washed over me in that moment. That kind of fear is many things at once: a glacial wash that starts on your head and drains to your immobilized feet, a taste in your mouth and a sound in your ears, and a fist that strangles your throat.
Many frantic minutes later, a deputy called us to let us know that our daughter was involved in a serious car accident and was not doing well. We continued to learn, as we scrambled off the mountain, that she was being life-flighted to the hospital…and that was all we knew.
For nearly two hours.
Fear does another thing: it slows time down to a minuscule crawl that leaves you weeping, screaming, and shaking your fist at the world as you drive at “safe” speeds to where your daughter lies in an unknown state without you.
I will spare the reader from those moments of agony: the prayers that dripped onto my lap, the pleading and begging, brokenness too intimate for anyone but my Father to understand.
I put on the full armor of God in a way I never understood before and will never misunderstand again.
One of the sweetest moments of my existence is the moment I first saw my daughter’s beautiful face as she lay on the emergency room’s gurney, smeared in blood but oh-so alive. Her voice asking if anyone else was hurt, her precious feet sticking out from the blanket, and her fingers curled in mine. The fifth of August will always hold that breathtaking image in my heart.
Adelaide sustained many traumatic injuries from her accident. For that entire first night in the ICU, I was bent over her in prayer, overwhelmed with both terror and joy, each one warring against the other and trying to take control. I battled in prayer for my girl that night, refusing to back down and contending with ferocity. I put on the full armor of God in a way I never understood before and will never misunderstand again.
I kept repeating the 8th and 9th verses of Isaiah 58, sometimes whispering them, sometimes sobbing them, but always experiencing them. There are promises in the Word that you no longer just read but experience; there is a knowing that changes your entire world.
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: ‘Here am I’ (NIV).
I called out to Jesus, and He didn’t have to run to answer because He was already there, holding not just me in His arms, but Addy as well.
As I called out to Him, He kept saying, “Here am I.” He continued repeating those words, never growing weary of saying them to me— it was His liturgy over me.
“Here am I.”
“Here am I.”
“Here am I.”
I could hear His love, see His protection, and feel His Presence.
The healing He provided was as stunning as the first break of dawn, filling my feeble world with light. Adelaide’s lacerated lungs were miraculously sealed the next morning. Doctors came into her ICU room and were stunned to see my sweet girl smiling back at them, her healing defying the accident she endured. Today, she wears her testimony on her leg in the form of a gnarly scar, and it is proof of the Lord’s providence and healing that she loves to share with others. He guarded Adelaide on every side, and His purpose went before her. The glory of the Lord was her rearguard, and for that, this momma will never stop praising Him.
Every August 5th and each day that He gives.
*To read more from Melissa and what God has taught her through this event, read her related article: Five Things I Didn’t Know I Needed to Learn About Prayer.
About the Author
Melissa Stelly serves as the executive pastor at Turning Point Church in Spokane, Washington, alongside her husband, Josh Stelly. She has attended Turning Point for thirty-four years. She is the mother of three daughters, adores camping, hiking, and adventuring, is a voracious reader, and considers Mt. Rainier one of the greatest accomplishments the Lord created. Most days in her free time you will find her curled up with a good book or taking a long walk.
