Birth Pangs of a New Season

Birth Pangs of a New Season

Acts 7:55- 8:4

Winter is at hand. Just as there are seasons of the year, there are also God-ordained seasons of life (Daniel 2:20-21; Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). There are seasons of certainty and seasons of doubt, mountain top seasons and valley seasons. If you live long enough, you will experience childhood, youthfulness, singleness, marriage, parenting, empty nest and later years. Other seasons include changes of jobs, homes, friendships, health and much more. Each season has its unique joys, opportunities and challenges. Seasons change but God does not change. Changing seasons are a gift from Him (Acts 14:17). They bring blessings not possible in other seasons. Often each season has its successes, and failures. Following the principle of sowing and reaping, what a season becomes depends on what was done in the previous. Faithfulness in one season is preparation for what follows. The next season is as easy as the diligence put in the previous. It is important to make the most of each season certain opportunities in it will not reappear or will be harder to recapture in later seasons.

We like it when God opens doors but not so much when he closes them. Some doors must however close. The elevator door must close for the elevator to go up. When a season ends, a new one comes. Some open doors are the thing blocking the way to a new and better season (Isaiah 6:1; 1 Kings 17:7; Mathew 25:45).  When a season is over there is uncertainty. The challenge is not finding open doors but the right open doors – check the fingerprints.

The stoning of Stephen marked the end of a season for the Church. The signs or death fits of a season became the birth pangs of a new season. Warning signs of  a closing season for the church until this time include a sense of settling in Jerusalem contrary to the commission of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8, Mathew 28:18-20).  There was some corruption as evidenced by the sin of Ananias and his wife. Most preaching seemed to be by the Apostles who were now under severe pressure to stop preaching. Social discord, a sign of fading vision, was creeping in such as the segregation of Hellenic Jews (Acts 6:1-7). Where there is no great vision, trivialities prevail (Peter. M. Senge). When vision tarries, the temptation is to lower your expectations.

The good news is that the signs of a disappearing season were also signs of hope for a new season. Crisis moments are often instrumental to transition of seasons. At a certain point when seasons have to change for our good and in God’s wisdom, nothing can derail what God wants. There is nothing as powerful as an idea whose season has come. After you cross a threshold line, change is something you cannot help or stop. One can only cooperate so that the new season arrives safely and salvages what ever is possible from the outgoing season (Jeremiah 8:7). It is like childbirth. When delivery time has come and the contractions are ripe and membranes have burst, delivery has to happen for better or for worse.  Stephen crossed the line of no return (Acts 7:54). The way things developed and the unison and ferocity they rose up with to stone him, indicated the climate of things. He could not finish his message.

-          Legal protection failed. He could not appeal to justice/rights. The law defenders were the lawbreakers and perpetrators of injustice (Acts 6:11, 12; 7:57, 58). The custodians of the law manipulated the legal process, fabricated charges, incited mob action and produced false witnesses. He was unwanted at any cost.

-          Social support failed. No one was able to help. The people were stirred up using lies (Acts 6:12; 7:57). The people unlike in previous cases rose up against the gospel. We do not hear about the apostles and the Gamaliels. Compatriots are not in sight.  

-          Personal strengths failed. Stephen was a convincing speaker (Acts 6:10) but now could not say anything good enough. No one was listening any more (Acts 7:57). His strength only made matters worse. He saw Jesus (Acts 7:56) and earlier his face was like an angel’s (Acts 6:15). Through a well narrated Jewish history he clearly exonerated himself from their false accusations and piercingly proved that the accusers just like their fathers were the ones dishonoring Moses, the law and God (Acts 7). He separated Moses from them and their fathers and his piercing message  made Peter  a moderate preacher. His competencies however could not help him. No one cared.

-          His spiritual approval did not spare him from fatal stoning. Stephen looked to God – his only hope and stay. His divine approval was affirmed when he saw God’s glory and Christ standing at his right hand. God did not deliver him but gave him grace. If God does not deliver you, he will give you grace through your difficult situations. For Stephen it seemed for a moment, God and Satan were on the same side. Satan, in futility, meant it for evil but God meant it for good.

Praise God, a new season was born. Previously persecution targeted Apostles now there is general persecution. By it, believers were driven out of hiding  to spontaneous preaching of the gospel. The hiding places of 'my job', 'home comfort', 'spectator terraces', etc were set on fire and they came out and were scattered (Acts 8:4) taking the gospel with them. It was a new season of active ministry participation of everyone not just leaders. God used unusual people (deacons, Greeks, ordinary believers) to reach unusual places beyond Jerusalem.  God inspired spontaneous witnessing in place of one centrally initiated. No one waited for instructions from the Apostles – they only gave reports of what God was doing and received apostolic support. Everyone was a bold witness (Acts 4: 29, 30) and wonder worker.

Many times God calls us to a new spiritual location. He is doing just that for us. Gears are shifting to a new dimension of faith and grace. A dimension of overwhelming awareness of God’s presence. A place of undeniable proof of his power. Our time has come. There is a strong prompting, that dramatic changes are happening in the spirit. It is time for God to show new favor to us. It is harvest season. It is time for a renewed urgency to share Christ. It is time for us not to settle into a religious mode but to spontaneously rise up in prayer and reach out to many with God’s love. We will not be satisfied with church as usual. We are moving from a season of something happening to Glory coming down with no limits. From doing something with our strength to supernatural enablement as we move in faith. From a few participating to unusual happenings through unusual people in unusual places. It is time to break out of the flesh barrier of human comfort, understanding and limitation. It is a season of accelerated growth. Amen.

Message by Dr. Kurai Chitima.

Faith Ministries – Johannesburg Faith Life Center.

Ground and First Floors Sunset Bay Building,

204B Bram Fischer drive,

Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa