KYS-WK-1 Discerning Your Season

Between 1930 and 1936, the Great Plains suffered a disaster now known as the Dust Bowl—a nearly decade-long season of dust that swallowed Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico.

The Library of Congress reports that the Dust Bowl was triggered by a lethal combination of severe, prolonged drought and unsustainable farming practices—deep plowing of native prairie grasses, overgrazing, and poor soil conservation.

One historian summarized it this way: “When drought hit, and winds came, massive dust storms arose—often called ‘black blizzards’—leaving 35 million acres of farmland useless.”

The National Weather Service records the worst of these storms, “Black Sunday,” on April 14, 1935, when a dust cloud 500–600 feet high and moving 50–60 miles per hour struck with no warning.

Wheat farmer Lawrence Svobida described it in his own body: “The dust I had labored in all day began to show its effects on my system. My head ached, my stomach was upset, and my lungs were oppressed and felt as if they must contain a ton of fine dirt.”

So what led to this devastating moment? It was as simple—and as tragic—as farmers not knowing their season.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explains: “Misguided agricultural policies and the belief that plowing the land would increase rainfall contributed to the overexpansion of farmland.”

Farmers plowed deeper than ever, believing they were entering a season of prosperity. But they didn’t realize there was no “rain follows the plow.” In the wrong season, it was dust that followed the plow. And when the winds came, everything they planted was ripped from the ground. Their harvest evaporated into the sky. It wasn’t that they didn’t know how to sow seed. It was that they didn’t know the season.

If farmers misread natural seasons and lost their harvest, how much more dangerous is it for a believer to misread our seasons

1. Seasons in Scripture

Moed (מועד) = meeting point, fulfillment of promise.

The “tent of meeting” ( Ex. 29:4) is literally the tent of moed—God’s presence in a season.

Genesis 17:21 NASB95

21 “But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this season next year.”

Genesis 18:14 NASB95

14 “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Et (עת) = time, opportunity, fitting season

Trees can’t rush their fruit, and neither can leaders. We expect rain in the fall and winter. Some seasons are predictable.

Leviticus 26:4 NASB95

4 then I shall give you rains in their season, so that the land will yield its produce and the trees of the field will bear their fruit.

Psalm 1:3 NASB95

3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Esther 4:14 NASB95

14 “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Zeman = appointed occasion, often calendared.

We often work toward a Zeman and then rest. We are aware of what is ahead, and it can create excitement, or stress, anticipation, or anxiety.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NASB95

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

Esther 9:31 NASB95

31 to establish these days of Purim at their appointed times, just as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther had established for them, and just as they had established for themselves and for their descendants with instructions for their times of fasting and their lamentations.

Nehemiah 2:6 NASB95

6 Then the king said to me, the queen sitting beside him, “How long will your journey be, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me, and I gave him a definite time.

Big Idea: God brings us both to promises fulfilled (moed), through fitting seasons (et), and to appoint occasions. Promises are fulfilled, calendared events are completed, and seasons return.

2. Seasons Have Purpose

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

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

Sowing & reaping: Some seasons are for planting, some for harvesting. Confusion comes when we expect a harvest in a planting season.

War & peace: Some seasons call us to fight, others to build.

Tear down & build up: God sometimes has to dismantle what we’ve built before constructing the new.

Yet, the word here for “season” is Zeman. The Hebrew word for a calendared event. Meaning that every season, no matter the fulfillment of a vow, or a season that we go through, is ordained by God.

3. Seasons In The Life of Jesus

Jesus in his divinity was subject to seasons of life. We often find ourselves in one of these seasons.

a) Season of Obscurity

From Bethlehem to about age 30

Hidden. Uncelebrated. Unnoticed - Luke 2:52

God in flesh…unknown to the world He created. 1 Tim 3:16

A carpenter’s son in Nazareth—fully God, yet choosing a quiet life. Matthew 13:55, Mark 6:3

This validates every leader’s hidden season.

b) Season of Preparation & Learning Obedience

(This is distinct from obscurity—it’s the sharpening within obscurity.)

“He learned obedience through what He suffered.” Hebrews 5:8

Temptation in the wilderness Luke 4

Submission to earthly authority (parents, rabbis, community) Luke 2:51

Growing in wisdom, stature, and favor. Luke 2:52

Even Jesus embraced formation before foundation.

c) Season of Publicity

His baptism → first miracles → crowds gather.

“This is my beloved Son…” Matthew 3

Water to wine John 2

Crowds pressing. Fame rising. Mark 5:24

Miracles everywhere—Galilee, Capernaum, Judea. John 20:30

Jesus uses publicity to reveal the Kingdom, not build a brand. Matthew 13:44-46

d) Season of Teaching Obedience

The Kingdom sermons, parables, mountain teachings, tables, rebukes.

Sermon on the Mount

Parables

Confrontation with Pharisees

Discipleship circles

Sending of the 12 and 72

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”

e) Season of Friendship

The relational core of Jesus’ ministry.

“I no longer call you servants…I have called you friends.” John 15:15

Peter, James, John → inner circle Mark 9:2-3

Meals, laughter, long walks, private prayers John 21:1-17

Jesus built real relationships—not ministry cohorts.

f) Season of Controversy and Confrontation

I recommend adding this season — it’s too significant to skip.

Religious leaders plotting

Increasing tension

Jesus challenging systems

Cleansing the Temple

Confronting hypocrisy

g) Season of Betrayal

Judas. The Sanhedrin. The crowds.

The kiss

The trials

The abandonment of His closest friends

The silence of heaven as He prayed in Gethsemane

h) Season of Suffering

(Cross, crucifixion, burial)

Isaiah 53 fulfilled

Innocence carrying sin

Love choosing death

The Lamb silent before His accusers

The darkest moment becoming the doorway to redemption

Big Idea: Some seasons look like death but are actually the seedbed of resurrection.

i) Season of Resurrection Power

Appearing, teaching, restoring Peter, commissioning.

Forty days of instruction

Teaching the Kingdom

Preparing them for the Spirit

Showing that obedience leads to victory

Big Idea: Resurrection isn’t a day—it’s a season of rebuilding and recommissioning.

j) Season of Ascension & Sending

Acts 1:8 NASB95

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Jesus entrusts His mission to human hands Matthew 28:18

The ultimate leadership handoff Matthew 28:19-20

The season where He shifts from being with them physically to being in them through the Spirit Luke 24:49

Big Idea: Every leadership season eventually requires release, trust, and empowerment.

k) Season of Heavenly Intercession

Jesus’ present season.

He “always lives to make intercession.” Hebrews 7:25

He is still ministering. Still speaking. Still leading. Romans 8:26

His current season shapes ours.

Big Idea: Jesus leads His church from the throne through intercession.

4. Jesus’ Example of Timing

John 2:4 — “My hour (hora) has not yet come.” Jesus refused to step out of season even under pressure.

Luke 22:53 — “This is your hour—when darkness reigns.” He recognized when the Father had appointed His season of suffering.

Acts 1:7 — “It is not for you to know the times (chronos) or dates (kairos) the Father has set by his own authority.”

Chronos: the ongoing time.

Kairos: the decisive moment – time of diving breakthrough

Hora: speaks to the moment or season with a specific duration

Big Idea: Even Jesus submitted His ministry to God’s appointed seasons. If the Son of God waited for His hour, how much more should we?

5. Dangers of Misreading Your Season

a. You Endanger The Lives of Others

Moses tried to deliver Israel too early → He killed a man and fled to Midian..

Exodus 2:11–12 NASB95

11 Now it came about in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brethren and looked on their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that, and when he saw there was no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

b. You Violate Others and Create Lasting Complications

Abraham & Sarah rushed God’s promise with Hagar → Ishmael. Misaligned seasons produce complications, not completion.

Genesis 16:3–4 NASB95

3 After Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Abram’s wife Sarai took Hagar the Egyptian, her maid, and gave her to her husband Abram as his wife. 4 He went in to Hagar, and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her sight.

c. You Risk Moral Collapse

David exited his season in and fell morally. Stepping outside your assigned season is dangerous.

2 Samuel 11:1 NASB95

1 Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.

When you step outside God’s season, the very gift you carry can become a liability.

6. Signs You’re in Sync With Your Season

Fruitfulness without forcing Ps. 1:3

Psalm 1:3 NASB95

3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Peace in process, even if slow – different than happy – peace is a gift (Philippians 1:2) , joy is chosen (Philippians 4:4, James 1:2-3, Galatians 5:22).

Philippians 4:7 NASB95

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Confirmation from God’s Word and godly counsel

Proverbs 11:14 NASB95

14 Where there is no guidance the people fall, But in abundance of counselors there is victory.

Grace to endure what feels beyond your strength

2 Corinthians 12:9 NASB95

9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

7. Practical Leadership Application

Every believer must ask - Discern - Decide

Ask: Is God calling me to a moed (an appointed fulfillment) or through an et (a time of endurance)?

Discern: Is this a harvest season or a plowing season?

Decide: Is this my time to lead from the front or to develop quietly in the shadows?

Families get out of sync when members misjudge their season:

Run ahead of God → you lose the flock.

Fall behind God → you hold the family back.

Step outside of God’s timing → you step outside of your grace.

8. The Gift of Resting in Season

Faith filled followers trust God’s timing. When Christ followers rest in their season, everyone flourishes.

We are protected from collapse.

We learn dependence on grace

We develop spiritual authority.

We build lasting legacy.

9. Salvation Response

You know… when we talk about seasons—moed, et, kairos—it’s easy to think this only applies to Christians, their calling, or ministry. But the truth is far deeper: God doesn’t just give Christian leaders seasons. He gives people seasons. He gives you seasons.

And maybe the most important season any human ever steps into is the season where they finally stop running, stop striving, stop pretending… and surrender to Jesus.

Scripture says in 1 Peter 2:9

1 Peter 2:9 NASB95

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

That’s season language. Some of you are hearing this today and you know exactly where you are: You’ve been in a season of darkness—confusion, sin, shame, self-reliance, fear. But there is a new season standing in front of you.

· A season of light.

· A season of grace.

· A season of forgiveness.

· A season of belonging.

And today… His timing is perfect.

This is your moed—your appointed moment.

This is your kairos—the window of divine opportunity.

This is the moment where God says, “Come home.”

So here’s the question:

Are you ready to leave darkness and step into His marvelous light? Have you ever truly surrendered your life to Jesus? If you would say, I want God’s forgiveness, I want to accept this gift of life, I want Jesus to live in my heart, raise your hand so I know who I am praying for.

KEEP YOUR HANDS RAISED HIGH - I HAVE A PRAYER PARTNER COMING TO PRAY WITH YOU

“Heavenly Father, I trust You to save me through Your Son, Jesus. Forgive me for all of my sins. Make me brand new. Because You died for me, I want to live for You. Fill me with Your Spirit, so I could follow You. Jesus, You’re now my Lord and the Savior of my life. Take my life. It is Yours. In Jesus’ name, I pray.”