When a New Season Begins

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This Week's Devotion Was Inspired By:

Ecclesiastes 3:1

^{For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:}

FROM HEAD KNOWLEDGE TO HEART KNOWLEDGE:

1. Evaluate in prayer: What kind of season do you believe the Lord may be calling you to this summer? Rest? Preparation? Reconnection?

2. Apply to now & the future: As you feel the Lord's leading when you pray, make preparations to put into practice in your life. If he's calling you to rest, intentionally schedule rest. If he's calling you to prepare, make it a plan to have regular sessions woven into your summer rhythm. And, if you are to reconnect, start planning time to spend with people and God now, so you don't miss the sacred opportunities.

KEY POINT: God has given us the gift of summer, and we should invite Him into our plans for this important season.

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Transcript

As we enter a new season of summer, I want to read to you some verses from Ecclesiastes chapter 3, starting in verse one.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to pluck up 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 together.
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.
A time to seek and a time to lose.
A time to keep and a time to cast 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 for war and a time for peace.

These verses are so interesting, and they remind us that there are seasons and that not every season looks the same. There are seasons for reaping and sowing, for rest and work, for mourning and dancing.

And as we enter into this new season of summer—which, for teachers, looks very different than the rest of the year—I want to encourage you to take a moment and consider: What might God have for you in this season? I want to encourage you to actually take a few moments and pray, and ask Him what He would have, to invite Him into your plans for the summer.

Would He have it be a season of rest and refreshment?
Would He have it be a season of planning and preparing?
Would He have it be a season of reconnection and relationships?

Maybe a little bit of all of that.

But what does God have for you this summer? What is He putting on your heart as an important part of this season? And if He has put rest on your heart, I want to encourage you to use that. That can feel so strange for us as teachers—to actually stop and rest. It can feel lazy after being so busy. But this reminds us that there are seasons, and you've had seasons of very much a lot of work, and maybe even some overwork.

And so God might be calling you to rest and refresh. He might also be calling you to serve Him this summer, or to prepare, to reconnect—whatever God is leading you in. Embrace what He has for you, and ask Him to give you His desires for this summer.

So as we close, take a few moments. Pray. Invite God into your planning, and then follow wherever He leads.

FROM HEAD KNOWLEDGE TO HEART KNOWLEDGE:

1. Evaluate in prayer: What kind of season do you believe the Lord may be calling you to this summer? Rest? Preparation? Reconnection?