Transcription
Have you ever worked your butt off for something, and you get there, and it kind of feels like unsettling? Like you're at this place of abundance, but you also feel like you should be celebrating, but there's this weird mix between joy and uncertainty. That's because every harvest season comes with a hidden catch. It is also a season of transition.
Let's jump into our last and final season, our harvest, and fall season where we're going to talk about gratitude, transition, and preparation. Uh, let's talk about a little bit of why this is important. Well, remember every season has to be stewarded so you know what to do with it so that the next season, well, it prepares you for the next season. So, it doesn't just end in fall. There's actually preparation that happens in fall so you can get through winter and back to spring. So, let's talk about fall for a few minutes.
Now, if you don't know what your season is, your spiritual season, we got you covered. You can go to havalcington.com/seasons and take a quiz, and it will help you understand what spiritual season you might be in. A lot of you have been asking, can you be in a different season in different areas of your life? Absolutely. Can you be in a spring season with your kids but a winter season in your finances? Absolutely. But most importantly, we want you to define your spiritual season. Where are you in your relationship with Christ? Because that's going to be the cornerstone to you living a healthy and vibrant and radical growing life in him. So that's most important.
Uh, another question is, does all the seasons happen in order? And I would say yes, because God is a god of order. He created summer, spring, winter, fall. A lot of times, all the time I should say, these seasons happen, but you can have a day in winter that feels like summer. All of us have had that. You have a day in winter that it rains. And so it doesn't mean the season has shifted. There's just kind of an element of that season for a few minutes within that season. Hope that makes sense.
So let's jump into fall. So you made it. You made it through the winter; the hibernation, the cold, the isolation, the "what am I going to do?" Then you got to spring where you started to cultivate this beautiful little thing that got you're beginning to grow and nurture. You made sure people didn't manhandle it; they didn't stomp on it. You let it grow. Then you got to summer. You worked hard. You got up early. You went to bed late. Your hands were dirty. And you were working, working, working. And now you've made it to fall. You made it to harvest. And all of that work, well, you're finally going to get to see the fruit of that.
So, how do you know if you're in a fall season? Here's some really good signs that you're in a spiritual fall. First is you're seeing answered prayers; prayers that you prayed when you did not believe there was a way, when you didn't know how he was going to do it, when you just thought, you know, I prayed this prayer so long, and now you're beginning to see movement and the answer, not just growing towards change, but like lasting change, like radical growth. Wow, this is really happening. There's fruit from those prayers.
The second thing you're going to really experience is a sense of completion or fulfillment. You're going to have this sense of almost like a deep breath internally, like it was worth the effort. It was worth the time, and it's going to be easy in the sense that you're going to be able to go and grab what you need. Maybe you're in a fall season of your finances, and so you can give to people that need something. You have enough for your own needs. You have more than enough, and that's a beautiful fall season, and God's given you that. So, it's that sense of completion, fulfillment; you know, this is there's like an evidence of fruit that you've grown.
Uh, thirdly, is there's a feeling, a mix of kind of celebration and transition. And what I mean by that is you're celebrating the harvest, but the leaves are turning a different color. You're beginning to see that the leaves are falling off the trees. The fruit is there, but you can feel transitions in the air. That's very normal for fall. And also, you have this sense that you're being prepared for something new. It's like something else is on the horizon. You're satisfied. You're fulfilled, but you know there's still more that needs to be grown and needs to be harvested.
So, let's go into the harvest. How do we steward this harvest season? I'm going to give you the acronym of REAP. We reap what we sow, the Bible says. So, let's pull apart REAP and see if we can really get prepared for how to steward this harvest season.
So R in REAP, we want to recognize and celebrate what God has done. Man, I was bad at this in my life. I was so bad at this because I was so used to being in winter, spring, and summer seasons that in fall seasons, I almost had this part of me that thought, I better keep working. I better get going. I better think about what's next. And I would not celebrate. And I remember the Lord challenging me in this season where he said, "Havala, you need a Sabbath." And I was like, "I know a Sabbath, a day off. Yeah, I get it." And he said, "No, I want you to go to the Hebrew and understand what Sabbath means." And when I went in and I really began to dissect what it means, Sabbath means to turn back and to celebrate. Sabbath isn't just about going on a, you know, Netflix series, like, you know, binge. It's not just about getting in your car and driving the coast. It really is a part of you that you reflect on what God has done and you celebrate it. Think about the seven days of creation, right? The six days of creation. And on the Sabbath day, the Bible says that God rested, which and he celebrated, which means he turned around and he went, "Look what we did. Look what I did for everybody and everything." Like, "I'm a God that completes the job, right?" In the perfect way possible. So there's something about, again, if you've never experienced this, there's something about your spirit being able to take a deep breath and go, "We made it. Look what you did, God. I didn't think you were going to do it, but you did it." And even celebrating the hard work, very, very important.
So, not only do we need to actually recognize and celebrate what God's done, but the E in REAP is to express our gratitude. That means when we go into worship, hands high up, we are just saying, "God, I am so grateful. You have been good. Your goodness is running after me. It caught up with me. It bar, you know, it tackled me, and I am now in the midst of your goodness. Like, thank you. Thank you. Thank you." I've seen people do this in their weddings where they have prayed for this their spouse and believed God. It's taken a long time, and now they're in that season where they just want to start the whole ceremony off with worship because it's like, "God, you brought us to this point. Not not just a dating app, not just some friends, not just some good moments, but like God, you did this, and we want to worship you because of it."
The A in REAP is to accept transition. So change is inevitable. So sometimes we're in the harvest season, and we can kind of feel anxious. Well, there's two different ways. We can either swing to the "this is where I'm going to land, and it's all good," and we tend to just eat our harvest or give it away, and we forget that the season is shifting, or we can almost be anxious about "this isn't going to last very long," and we can hoard things, and we can kind of be not able to like embrace the season. And I've seen people that hoard all their harvest because they think, "Well, winter's coming," but a lot of it gets spoiled because it wasn't meant just to be like taken and put away. The seeds of the that season is definitely something we steward, but the fruit should be given and eaten and enjoyed. That's part of the harvest season. So, we want to make sure that we accept it. We don't resist it. We don't anticipate it being a bad season. We just go, "I'm I'm sober. I'm enjoying it. I'm celebrating, but I'm sober that I also need to make sure that I have seeds that are ready for the next season."
And then the P of REAP is we prepare for the next season, which is winter is coming, and we can get ready for it. Like I said, seeds are really important in this. And anybody who's a farmer or a gardener, they understand that the seeds are very important for the next season. So, there'll be a time when you'll take the seeds of what God did and you'll begin to put it into a place where it can germinate and begin to grow again.
So Psalms 126:5 says, "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy." This is your shouting season. This is a season when you go, "Thank you, God." And I remember I remember asking God, you know, "God, why was my winter season so long? Like, why was my summer season so long?" It felt like it was so long. And then I realized that when I hit harvest, I was so grateful. Like I will never ever dismiss the reality that God gave me a family, which I didn't think I would get. I would never dismiss the reality God allowed me to preach around the world, which is a dream I have, but I didn't know how it was going to happen. Like I had so many seasons of just doing the work and when nobody was looking that there's a sense of gratitude that I I feel like it's a privilege, like when you're in harvest season there is a privilege of harvest that you know I could not have done this alone. I needed God to water the plants and God to give me sun. I needed other people to help me work the field. I'm so grateful, and I just want to give the abundance of what God's given me. I don't need to hoard. I just want to give it because I'm so so grateful.
So again, farmers don't just harvest and quit. They begin to store up and plan ahead for the next cycle. And it is funny because I think in our in our lives a lot of times we want to go, "And I'm done harvest." But we have to understand that we we actually it's a secular. It's like it's a circle, right? We this is coming. So instead of being shell-shocked that we're going into winter, understanding now we get to do it all over again. And it's the partnership of our great gardener who helps us do these things.
So what is the danger in fall? What are things we need to be aware of? Well, first is just getting too comfortable. We can just get so comfortable in the fall, everything turns to gold. Everything seems easy. Everything's in abundance, and we kind of miss the point and can be vulnerable to a few things. First is that you are not done yet. Like the completion of fall is storing the seeds. So understanding that just because you picked the harvest and everyone's eating and everyone's getting the abundance of what you have, it means that the business might be thriving, but you want to put away so that if there's a hard season again, you're ready to sustain yourself through the winter season. It also means that harvest doesn't mean to just stop, but to steward. So I see a lot of people, they finally get to this point, and then they're just like, "That's it. I'm done." And yet some of those little things that we can store up like journaling about your gratitude, getting some, you know, going deeper in the word, having this narrative that kind of you build your faith so in the winter you can pull out that journal or you can pull out those moments of abundance and remind yourself of what God has done for you and through you. And the next step, well, it's winter, I know. So, we have to get ready for our roots to go down deep again. And that will be the season.
So, how do you end the fall season? Well, very simply, we're going to celebrate the faithfulness of God. Celebrate. Take a minute. You know, enjoy. Like, I think about I think about a harvest of grapes, right? Where the where they're dancing on the grapes and they're they're the the you know, they're they're stomping on it and they're making fresh grapes and there's food and there's laughter and there's enjoyment. There is seasons in God that we don't need to feel guilty because somebody else is in a different season. But to actually, this is like how when I see my kids enjoy something that I have prepared for them. You know, I think about Christmas morning. Like I'm a gift-giver. I love gifts. They don't have to be all big. They don't have to be expensive, but I love wrapping gifts. I love putting them together. And I love the feeling of when they open that gift, the excitement and the joy that they have, right? It's exciting as a parent. Well, it's the same way with God. Like when you're in a season of harvest, God's not like, "Oh, are you grateful? Oh, you know, don't ask me how much it was. Oh, well, you know, tomorrow's not Christmas." No, God doesn't think that way. God's like, "I have prepared this for you. You've been so diligent. I want to lavish you on the gifts that I have." So, like, enjoy it. And I just see God smiling and saying, "Just enjoy this moment because, sweetheart, you work so hard. I'm so proud of you," and let let yourself take that in.
Also, it's time to invest in others. So, we want to pour out what we've received. You know, a lot of times in winter and spring, well, winter, we we have people that kind of reach out to us and make sure that we're still breathing, we're still alive, and God's still got a plan. And in spring, we share those little visions and little breakthroughs with people that can encourage us and help us. In summer, it's all hands-on deck. Your friends have been helping you build and grow and become. And then it's time in the in the fall to not just like I said store up, but to be generous, to be abundant, to say, "I have more than enough. I'm happy to give you this, happy to give you that." And it's because it's out of the heart the mouth speaks. It's what's happening on the inside. If you're grateful, then you will be a giver. That's how it works in our lives.
And then also lastly is to ask God, "What's next?" "God, what are we building next?" Like I love this. If you learn, if you find somebody who's very successful, just think about business. You'll find a business owner that has created a business and it's thriving and they're they're doing well. I don't know anybody who is in that position that isn't thinking, "What else can we build? What else can we grow? How else can we expand?" Because that's what that's kind of what a healthy mature leader does is they understand the seasons and they understand that this is a season, but they have to think about the next season and what else needs to be growing. And so this is a time for you to mature and say, "Okay, God, I'm so grateful for this, but what do I need to store up?" Because I know there's more things that you want to engage me in to grow in my life.
Um, so asking what's next? And maybe even putting that away a little bit in your own heart. So this week, as we kind of take away the harvest season, and I'm so glad you made it. Don't worry, it's it's the most incredible season. All of us want to be in harvest. The question I would ask is, "What blessings do you need to stop and thank God for?" You know, there's sometimes when my kids are a lot, right? I've got four teens in my house. And sometimes I'm like overwhelmed by the laundry and the food that is eaten in one sitting and the mess of the, you know, 18 pairs of shoes that never got carried upstairs. And I can be frustrated. And then I remember God just being like, "Didn't you, you were believing for this, right? You were praying for kids, right? You wanted to be a mom, right?" I did. And just sitting back and going, you know what? It's easy to pick apart things, but it really takes a person of who has gratitude to just say, "God, thank you. Thank you that I'm here. Thank you that I have a beautiful house. Thank you I have an incredible husband. Thank you that I have kids that, you know, still want to talk to me and still want still want to love me." I mean, those are great things, right? And so, it's not about what we have. The harvest is not about the amount of money or the amount of things that we have. It's kind of like the fruit of what we grew, which is oftentimes relationship. It's oftentimes hope, healing, whatever that might be.
So ask God, what do I need to thank you for? In fact, if you're in a harvest season, maybe it's time to write God a gratitude letter and just a letter that just says, "God, thank you for this and for this and for this and for this," and let that gratitude grow in your heart because you're going to want seeds of gratitude for the next season. You're going to want to think about it like that. And then also, I would really ask God, okay, God, what do you want me to store up? So, I know that sounds interesting, but I would say like, okay, what are the things that God's asking me to prepare for the next time? So, I think about my Bible study. I have my book called Radical Growth, a guide book to growing a vibrant life. And this was one of my first Bible studies I ever wrote. And this was really a lot of the content that we're talking about today. But when I when I did this book, you know, I didn't just go, okay, every story, every revelation, everything I have, I'm going to throw it in this book and it's going to be amazing. I knew I'm going to put this in this harvest. I'm going to reap the harvest of this, but I have seeds of other revelations, ever other things God's speaking to me about that I'm going to go back into the winter season and begin to go, okay, what are we building? What are we growing? Nobody's asking for it, but I want to be diligent in this area. So really asking God, "What do you want me to store up?" Maybe it is income. Maybe you're in an abundant season and you think it's always going to be this way, but maybe God is saying, "I want you to do that LLC. I want you to actually start that nonprofit or I want you to put that savings away. I want you to put something so that when seasons shift, you have something, right? I want you to buy that house or whatever it might be." Very, very important.
So my final thought is simply this: In every season, God is in it, and he's going to help you. So, you got to trust the process. You don't get to choose your season, but you do get to choose your response to the season. And that's what makes us powerful believers. That's what makes us powerful Christians. So, wherever you are, whether you're in fall, guess what? You might want to go back and listen to winter. If you're in winter, you might want to go back and listen to spring and really get really versed in what it means to be in these seasons because it will help you tremendously. You can grin and bear it or you can steward it. The choice is yours. And I I'd rather steward it. I'd rather not be pushing against what God is doing. I'd rather be saying, "Okay, God, help me do what you've put in front of me."
For all of you that like to to know where I am this this month, uh this next month, I'm going to be in Chicago. I'll be speaking at an event there. And then another event I'll be speaking about in Florida, kind of close to Miami, but all the details are on my website at havocington.com/speaking. And you can see where I'm going to be. There's a whole lot of other places that are on the books, but ultimately I'm here every week. Every week you can find me on this podcast. We do this for you, and I hope that you'll join us. If nothing else, thank you for being here. And hey, if you've made it this far in the chat or in the comments, will you tell me what season you're in and maybe something you learned about your season? I would love to read those to see where you might be and what helped you in this season, in this episode, in this series, right? If nothing else, I'll see you next time. And next month, we're tackling parenting. So, make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a thing. Until next time, bye-bye.