(This is a hybrid post composed of three separate and excellent posts.)
6 Spiritual Seasons of Life (and How to Flourish in Them)
In this post, Author Courtnaye Richard states two important facts; we are always in a season of life and these seasons can and will change. So, it is critical to identify which season we are in and how to live in it faithfully.
Here are her 6 seasons:
1. The Dry Season in which we feel distant from God. Courtnaye’s insights include why you are in a dry season and keys to getting through it.
2. The Waiting Season in which our natural instinct to do and to act conflicts with the greater purpose of waiting for something better from God.
3. The Grinding Season where the prayerful seeking of God’s direction can energize our abilities to cope, endure, and solve problems.
4. The Tests & Trials Season, known to all of us, calls for us to fix our eyes on heavenly things and not on the temporal things of this life.
5. The Spiritual Warfare Season challenges us to identify our true enemy, Satan, and to equip ourselves with the only armor that can prevail and that is spiritual armor.
6. The Happy Season, unlike seasons 1-5, is joy-filled. We are called to keep God in this season through praise and thanksgiving.
Read the entire post and discover how to flourish in greater detail, supported by Scripture.
4 Ways to Pray When You Need Courage
It takes courage to faithfully live through the spiritual seasons of life. In this post, Rachel Britton draws upon the Hebrew word for courage, hazaq, which means to show oneself strong.
1. Courage to Be Content means more than being satisfied with what we have (especially materially), but to discover contentment in all situations at all times. Paul shows us how, and it is to find strength in Christ.
2. Courage When Our World Is Falling Apart addresses senseless acts, inadequate personal resources, underserved consequences, and much more. Corral your thoughts and keep them from discouraging you with the firm belief in the goodness of a loving God, the protection He gives, and His ultimate control in all things.
3. Courage When You Are in Danger. Rachel focuses on danger from physical enemies. Draw strength from the stories, of which there are many including those of David, and how trust in God is your ultimate savior.
4. Courage When You Feel Alone. It is ironic that at a time when we are so connected digitally, we could feel “left out, poorly understood, or lacking companionship.” It is at this time we need to discover who is our trusted friend, who will not abandon us; there is only one and it is Christ.
Read the entire post and find strength for the journey, real courage.
God’s Goal for You Is Character, Not Comfort
In this post in his teaching series, Live Your Calling: What on Earth Am I Here for? Rick Warren emphasizes that God’s desire is not for you to be comfortable through your own efforts, which will never be adequate because you can never be a god. Rather, God’s ultimate goal for your life on Earth is not comfort but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ.
Character, or what the Bible calls the heart, refers to the essence of the person, not merely the personality, especially a superficial personality that we wish the world to see. And this essence can only be attained by a relationship with Christ.
Rick’s entire post is here where you will learn more reasons how God works in you to develop the character that shines light on His glory, not yours.
Use these three posts to discover the courage to build the character God wants for you that will enable you to flourish through the spiritual seasons of life.