Today I want to bring you a prophetic word! Let’s read the Word of God in Ecclesiastes 3:1–8, which will be the foundation of our message.
1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 NIV
Intro
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:1: “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”
This means that our lives do not happen randomly. There are seasons.
As your pastor, I need to warn you about something: I have seen many people in the church who have gifts, talents, and even a calling from God. But because they have failed to discern the season and the timing of God, they are standing still, feeling lost, and they are not living out the purpose for which they were called.
God is saying:
“You cannot stay where you are, because the season I am placing before you will not wait forever.”
If you fail to discern it and respond to God, you may miss the opportunity God has placed before you.
There is a time to be born and a time to die. A time for war and a time for peace. A time to gather and a time to scatter.
And one of the greatest tragedies in life is not simply being in a difficult season.
The tragedy is being in a season and not recognising what season you are in.
Because when you fail to discern your season, you can do the right thing at the wrong time.
A tool that would be useful in a battle can become a burden during a race.
There are things that God places in our hands for a particular season. But if you do not understand the timing, you may continue carrying things that should have been left behind, or try to step into a season that you are not yet prepared for.
“As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it… because you did not recognise the time of God’s coming to you.” Luke 19:41, 44 NIV
Jesus wept over Jerusalem because that people did not recognise the time of its visitation.
If you fail to recognise God’s timing, you can miss what God has prepared for you.
Therefore, understanding the seasons of God is a spiritual matter.
- THE FIRST SEASON: DISCOVERY AND PREPARATION
Before God takes someone into a season of great public manifestation, there is usually a season of discovery and preparation.
In the season of preparation, God will use people to shape you. Your leaders will challenge you, correct you and teach you. They will be instruments in God’s hands to prepare you for what He has called you to do.
This season is extremely important because it is where God begins to work inside you.
Many people want manifestation, but they don’t want preparation. They want the platform and the spotlight, but they don’t want the process. They want influence, but they don’t want to be shaped. They want to be used by God, and they want to advise others, but they have not yet learned to walk in humility, to receive correction, to listen to godly counsel, and to submit to godly leadership.”
You cannot lead others well if you have never learned how to be led.
The first season is not about being seen; it is about being prepared, discovering who you are, and discovering what God has called you to do.
And there are at least four things you need to discover.
FIRST: DISCOVER GOD
The beginning of every destiny must be God.
Genesis 1:1 begins by saying:
“In the beginning God…” Genesis 1:1
And Daniel 11:32 declares:
“But the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.” Daniel 11:32 NKJV
Before you discover your platform, discover God.
Before you discover your ministry, discover God.
Before you ask: “Lord, what am I going to do?”
Ask:
“Lord, who are You?”
Because it is possible to discover your talent without discovering God. It is possible to discover your calling without discovering God.
It is possible to build a career, a ministry and a reputation without truly knowing the One who gave you all of it.
That is why there is a season when God begins to call you into the secret place.
1- You begin to desire prayer.
2- You begin to hunger for the Word.
3- You begin to long for His presence.
4- You begin to realise that the things of this world no longer satisfy you the way they used to.
- You begin to submit to God and to the people He has placed over your life.
Do not ignore those desires. It may be God working inside you.
SECOND: DISCOVER WHO YOU ARE IN LIGHT OF PROPHECY
After discovering God, you need to discover who you are in Him.
There is a version of you that people know. But there is also a version of you that God is shaping.
You need to discover your identity, your purpose, and what God has placed inside you.
There are people who spend years living according to the expectations of others.
“My father wants me to be this.”
“My family expects me to do that.”
“My friends are doing this.”
“Everyone is going in that direction.”
But Your destiny is not determined by social pressure.
You need to discover what God has written about your life.
Jeremiah 1:5 shows this clearly. God said to Jeremiah:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”
Jeremiah 1:5
The calling already existed before Jeremiah understood the calling.
But notice something important:
The calling existed, but the manifestation came later.
Between discovery and manifestation, there is preparation.
THIRD: DISCOVER YOUR GIFTS AND YOUR TOOLS
God never calls someone without placing something inside that person that can be used to fulfil His purpose.
- Moses had a staff.
- David had a sling.
- The widow in 2 Kings 4 was facing a crisis, and Elisha asked her:
“What can I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” She replied, “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.” 2 Kings 4:2 NIV
“What do you have in your house?” God will use what you have!
What seemed small became the tool God used for the miracle.
So I want to ask you:
What has God placed inside you?
What skill do you have?
What gift?
What experience?
What knowledge?
What passion?
What ability?
What resources?
Sometimes you are looking for an extraordinary tool, while God is saying:
“Start with what I have already placed in your hand.”
Do not despise small beginnings.
David did not begin in front of Goliath. He began by looking after his father’s sheep.
It was in the wilderness that he discovered he was a warrior, a musician, a leader, and a man of courage.
Preparation came before manifestation.
- GOD ALSO USES PEOPLE TO PREPARE YOUR DESTINY
One of the ways God guides us through different seasons is through people.
Parents, mentors, leaders, teachers, friends, and people God places along our journey can all play a part in the process of preparation.
Parents need to learn to discern what God is doing in the lives of their children.
Having a child does not mean you have permission to impose whatever destiny you want upon them.
You need to ask:
“Lord, what are You doing in this child’s life?”
Hannah received Samuel from God, and she gave him back to God’s purpose.
Spiritually mature parents don’t just protect their children. They help accelerate their God-given destiny.
And the same thing happens in our spiritual lives.
God may place someone in your path who carries a word, an instruction, a correction, or a connection that you need in order to move forward.
- THERE ARE MYSTERIOUS ALIGNMENTS IN THE SEASONS OF GOD
When a new season arrives, certain things begin to align in ways that you could never have arranged on your own.
People appear.
Doors open.
Invitations come.
Journeys take place.
Seemingly accidental encounters suddenly become significant.
God begins to connect you with people who are part of your process.
Look at Philip in Acts 8. Suddenly, the Spirit directed him to a specific road.
Why?
Because there was someone on that road who needed to meet Philip. That is divine providence.
God had already prepared the encounter before Philip even knew it was coming.
God’s timing matters.
You need to remain sensitive enough to recognise when a new season has arrived.
- DON’T CONFUSE PROPHECY WITH PREPARATION
Some people receive a word about their future and think that means the future will happen automatically.
No.
A prophecy does not eliminate the process.
Jeremiah had a calling from the womb, but he still needed to be formed.
David was anointed as king, but he still had to go through the wilderness.
Joseph received dreams, but he still had to go through a process.
You can receive a genuine word from God and still need years of preparation.
So don’t spend your time simply celebrating what God has said you will become.
Ask yourself:
“What do I need to do to become what God has said I will be?”
Because God does not place great responsibilities on vessels that are not yet prepared to carry them.
- THE SEASONS DON’T WAIT
This is perhaps one of the strongest warnings.
The seasons don’t wait for you.
If you have ten years to prepare for something and you waste nine of them, you cannot expect God to give you those nine years back.
It’s like an exam at school. The exam doesn’t wait for you to study. Time keeps moving.
That is why some people are behind where they could be.
God wanted them to know Him deeply.
He wanted them to discover their gifts.
He wanted them to develop discipline.
He wanted them to learn about stewardship, leadership, relationships and character.
But they were distracted.
Social media.
The wrong friendships.
Entertainment.
Relationships.
The pursuit of money.
The pursuit of approval. And the most dangerous thing is this:
They didn’t even realise they were wasting a season.
- DON’T DESPISE THE PROCESS
Sometimes you ask, “Why am I going through this?”
But perhaps God is preparing you.
Perhaps the limitation is developing your character.
Perhaps the wilderness is teaching you dependence on God.
Perhaps the silence is teaching you how to listen.
Perhaps God is removing things from your life that could become dangerous for your future.
Not every difficult process is an attack from the enemy.
Some things are training. The problem is that we want to reach the palace without going through the process that prepares us to rule.
- WHEN YOU STAND BEFORE YOUR “PHARAOH” OR YOUR “GOLIATH”, YOU NEED TO BE READY
Imagine arriving at the very moment God has prepared you for, only to discover that you have not developed the tools you need.
When David stood before Goliath, he did not have time to discover who he was.
He already knew how to use the sling.
He had trained in the wilderness. He had been prepared in obscurity. He had been shaped in the secret place. So when the opportunity came, he was ready.
The public manifestation simply revealed what had already been built in private.
Last point: HURRY!
Perhaps this is the word for many people today:
Hurry! Hurry to know God.
Hurry to discover who you are.
Hurry to discover your gifts.
Hurry to develop your abilities.
Hurry to understand your mission.
Hurry to let go of distractions.
Hurry to enter the process of preparation.
Because there may be a season that you still have time to make the most of, but you don’t know how much time is left.
Don’t wait until the opportunity arrives before you start preparing.
Prepare now.
CONCLUSION
The first great season of destiny is the season of discovery and preparation.
And within it, there are four great discoveries:
- Discover God.
2. Discover who you are in light of prophecy.
3. Discover your gifts, abilities and tools.
4. Discover your place in God’s purpose.
After that comes preparation.
- Because having a prophecy does not mean you are ready.
2. Having a title does not mean you have maturity.
3. Having an anointing does not mean you are prepared.
4. Having a vision does not mean you have the capacity to sustain it.
You need to make the most of your season.
Perhaps God has placed something inside you that has not yet been developed.
Perhaps there is a gift you have not yet trained.
Perhaps there is an area of your character that needs to be dealt with.
Perhaps there are relationships that need to be left behind.
Perhaps there is a spiritual discipline that you need to restore.
Perhaps God is saying:
“My child, stop wasting this season.”
Seasons pass. Time passes. Opportunities pass.
But when you discern the time and respond correctly, what God has placed inside you begins to find expression.
So go back to God.
Return to the secret place.
Ask again:
“Lord, who are You?”
“Who am I?”
“What have You placed inside me?”
“What is my place in Your purpose?”
And once you discover it, prepare yourself.
Because when the time for manifestation comes, you will not have time to start preparing.
You will need to be ready.
HURRY! THE SEASONS DON’T WAIT FOR YOU.