Seasons

Big Idea:  Seasons in sports and life come and go, stay faithful and focused during all of them.

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

Warm-up:

-Can you remember one of the best seasons you’ve ever had? What was it like? What do you remember about it?

– Can you remember one of the worst seasons you’ve ever had in sports? What made it so difficult?

Game Time Discussion:

Read the following scripture aloud: For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. Ecclesiastes 3:1-3

Baseball makes sense for several reasons, but one of those reasons is because it has a distinct starting and stopping point. This starting and stopping point is known as a season. No matter how difficult or successful the season is, there is a sense of urgency because you know it will end. You want to soak up all you can when it’s going great, and you can’t wait for it to be over when it’s going bad. But is it possible to learn more in a tough season than a good one? Is God still good in the losing seasons or is He only good during the winning seasons? We know from God’s Word that He is good in every season.

In life, there are also seasons. However, a lot of times in life, we don’t know when these seasons are going to start, and we rarely know when they are going to end. Some of these we do know, such as seasons of parenting, travel, moving, etc. But what about the seasons we don’t anticipate, and we don’t know when they will end. Seasons such as sickness, unemployment, tragedy, loss, rebellion, addiction, depression, failure, brokenness, or unexpected success. I’ve learned that all of life is a season in one way or another, and it’s important to embrace each season because God has sovereignly allowed it in our lives. Whatever season you are in today, I challenge you to embrace it, allow God to work in it, because He’s trying to teach you something through it.
After all, the good and the bad seasons are sovereignly allowed by the same Holy God.

Concluding Thought:  Regardless of what season you are in, God is good, and God is faithful. God loves us the same whether we are winning or losing.

Game Time Challenge: We all experience adversity and success at different points in life. It’s easy to trust God on the good days. But will we trust God on the bad days too? Will we trust that God is good no matter the circumstances? Let’s challenge ourselves to stay faithful during the bad seasons and humble during the successful seasons.

 Prayer: God, thank you for being a God that loves us just as much in the losing seasons as you do in the winning seasons. Thank you for being good to us no matter what. In Jesus name, AMEN.

Extended reading: Job 2:10