In Due Season

“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven.”
-Ecclesiastes 3:1

I am learning more and more that life is lived out in seasons and that God works in and through each season in different ways. God also has a “due season” or an appointed time for certain things to take place in our lives. It is important that we understand the ways of God and how He works in our lives so that we can grow as He intends in each season. Below are three examples of things that come in God’s due season.

1. Reaping a Harvest

Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.” When you are doing good but not seeing any results it can become frustrating. Paul is exhorting the Galatian church to not become tired of doing the good things they are doing because a harvest is coming; in due season. There is a season of sowing and a season of reaping.

This principle applies to various areas of our lives; spiritually, relationally, financially and otherwise. Continue to walk in obedience to the Lord and trust that He will bring a harvest into your life in the proper time.

2. Stepping into your Calling

The Bible says of John the Baptist that he “was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel” (Luke 1:80). There was an appointed time- a due season- for John to step into his true calling, but until that time he was in the wilderness being prepared and trained for his ministry. When we receive a call from God our tendency is to want to step right into it and begin to fulfill the call. But that is not how God works. Once you are called, you are launched into a season of training.

When you look at the lives of the men and women of faith in the Bible you will see this pattern: calling, preparation , commissioning. The process looks different with each person, and there are no formulas to fulfilling destiny, but the pattern remains true. When we receive God’s call we must submit to His process and trust that He will release us into the fullness of this call in due season.

3. Being Exalted

1 Peter 5:6 says, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time.” It is up to us to humble ourselves, and up to God to exalt us in His own time and in His own way. This is one of the divine paradoxes of Scripture: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).

In a world where self-exaltation abounds, Jesus calls us to humble ourselves in the sight of God and man. It is not our job to exalt ourselves and such behavior shows immaturity and insecurity. Instead, we should trust God that He will exalt us in due season according to His own plan and purpose.

I hope that this little study will help you to trust in God and have a better understanding of His ways, no matter what season you may be in!