Four Seasons (in a Christian’s life)

When it comes to Christianity, I’ve realized that there are 4 seasons in a Christian’s life. We can call it spring, summer, fall, and winter.

Now, I’m no expert on the weather, so please forgive the crude analogy since this is just my opinion (the science experts can correct me later).

Springtime

That’s when all the flowers bloom and life is erupting everywhere. For a Christian, that’s a time when he is growing and he knows that he is growing. He is very happy with the Lord and seems to find his joy in the Scripture, in encouraging fellowship, and evangelism. Do you remember those days? Those days when every word from the Bible was so unique and alive to you? Do you remember looking for books about the Bible, God, Jesus, and you wanted to read them so badly? Not because you wanted to have theological knowledge, but because you felt that learning more of Christ drew you closer to Him. That’s springtime. But for some strange reason, Christians enter Summer.

Summer

After awhile, if the person is a genuine Christian and lives biblically, persecution begins. Trials and temptations begin to feel overwhelming. For the Christian, he BELIEVES that he is okay. But he is not. Things are changing. The Bible does not seem so alive anymore. Prayer that used to be so full of excitement and joy begins to feel routine-ish. He thinks he’s okay, he thinks he’s fine, he believes that everything will be alright. But things are not what they seem. If a Christian is in this season, it’s best to be honest to himself and his brothers and sisters so that he may receive prayer, guidance, and help. But most of the time, Christians can’t accept that they are here. So they keep quiet. Just like the heat of summer. It’s quiet but can be deadly. If it continues, the Christian falls into the Fall.

Fall

Here, the Christian knows that he has no longer any excitement or joy. Reading the Bible? Praying? That’s suddenly empty. Tiring even. Or just boring. Usually, this is felt by Christians who have read the Bible more than 2 or 3 times. Bible reading and praying is no longer something to look forward to. Instead, it becomes a habit, an empty discipline. A tradition. An obligation. A chore. A lot of them give up in this season. They just quit. They stop coming to church and fellowship, and they will usually have great reasons and excuses. The reasons will sound very, very biblical, but their hearts are just tired or sick or empty. OR, they stay in a church, but they won’t get involved. They will just stay in the sidelines and pretend that everything’s okay. When people ask them how they are, they give the standard answers. They fake it. They don’t know it, but they enter Winter.

Winter

Everything sure looks white and clean on the outside, but underneath all that snow and wet white stuff and white fluff are dead things. Moist, cold, dead things. Nothing survives the winter. This is where the Christian looks good on the outside but wet cold and dead in the inside. He or she no longer prays, no longer reads the Bible, no longer enjoys Jesus. BUT they still go to worship services! They still lead Bible studies. They still join religious discussions. Somehow, they think that they can fake it. They try to prove to everyone how religious they are, but it’s all just cold dead wet white fluff. There are habitual sins, secret sins, and other kinds of sins under that white snow, but the Christian keeps all that a secret. But God knows. God always knows.

So why did I write this blog? Well, I’ve been studying about prayer lately, and I’ve got a huge burden for my brothers and sisters in Christ. I very sorely and deeply feel burdened, for some reason. I feel like a lot of Christians in a lot of churches today are either in Fall or Winter. So here’s a prayer which I hope you guys would agree with me on:

Lord God, Heavenly Father, You are the great God of all things. You search all hearts and minds and You know truth from untruth. Father, I pray that You would remind every son and daughter of Yours that You love them. You are their Father in heaven and You care and are concerned and I pray that for every Christian who is in fall or winter, that You would miraculous bring back the spring. I pray that You would remove all that ice and snow and coldness and help them confess and repent and be healed. I pray that You would grant them the strength and courage and faith and grace to seek help from their church leaders. Help them please God to no longer hide underneath snow and ice. But that they would genuinely desire an authentic life of faith NO MATTER THE COST! If it would cost them embarrassment, a shattering of pride and ego, may that cost be small to them compared to getting back that spring. That love and joy, intimacy, faith, delight, pleasure in You, love for You, excitement in prayer and Bible reading, and fellowship, and evangelism, and intercession, and a deep profound satisfaction in YOU God! Lord Jesus, PLEASE wipe away the snow from my brothers’ and sisters’ hearts. Wipe away the fluff Lord! Bring them back to that FIRST LOVE! May we all have lives of prayer, real prayer, real relationship with You, Lord Jesus! Oh God, please Lord, help us all, help all Your churches! Lord to be genuine and authentic, help all Your children to be honest to themselves. Please grant wisdom to all Your churches and church leaders to have a hand that guides and counsels their members towards a lifestyle of repentance and joy! May You help all of us see that pure joy comes from pure repentance! We plead this in Your Name, Lord Jesus. Amen.