11. Some messages of the Bible are more appropriate for certain seasons of a spiritual journey.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
How does the idea seem to you that we go through different seasons in our spiritual life, similar to different phases in a relationship we may have with a friend or spouse?
Do you think that the people in the Bible were at different seasons in their journey? For example, did the Israelites leaving Egypt have the same kind of relationship with God that Moses had? Or did King Saul have the same type of relationship with God that David had?
How do you imagine that God might relate differently to people in various stages of their journey?
Our spiritual life, sometimes called our “journey with Jesus,” or our “walk with God,” will have seasons and periods in which things change. It may be that we are changing in how we connect with God or we sense that God’s way of connecting with us is changing. We may experience a transition in how we relate to Jesus or experience the Spirit. This is also true of our life on earth. As we age, we notice that we are different, our relationships are different, our desires are different, and what we value may change.
The Bible is a record of mankind’s activity in relation to what God is doing and just like us, the people in the Bible are also on a journey. The stories and teachings of the Bible as they speak about people and their journeys, may sometimes speak to issues that are specific to a particular season of our journey. When our journey-season matches the journey-season being addressed in Scripture, we may find a deep resonance and connection. On the other hand, when our season and the one being presented in the Bible are different, we may not experience that same connection and may even struggle to connect.
This idea may be new to some and may create some uneasiness. It is not suggesting that the Bible is to be relativized or that the Bible isn’t true or valid. It is not proposing a contextualization of Scripture that makes anything acceptable. The idea of “seasonal awareness” in Scripture simply says that some passages may mean more to us than others at certain times in our lives and that as we grow in our journey, some passages that didn’t connect before may become powerful for us now.
Let’s try to apply this idea with some examples. (Please know that there are many ways of describing the phases of a spiritual journey and what will be presented here is just one model that is being used to illustrate the idea that our phase on the journey will sometime affect how we receive Scripture.)
The first phase on our journey is when we become aware of our sins, of Jesus’ forgiveness of our sins, and the opportunity He gives us to begin a relationship with God. Passages in the Bible that talk about sin, punishment, hell, eternal life, and forgiveness may capture our attention and speak to us. But for someone who is several stages further along on their journey, these passages may not be as significant. That person may even struggle with an image of God that seems to be presented: angry, punishing, sending people to hell, etc. It may not feel like the same God, one who loves unconditionally, and meets our need for love.
Phase two comes when we move on from our awareness of our sins and we desire belonging and participation with others who share our beliefs. In this phase, we resonate with Jesus’ call for all His followers to live in unity and love with each other. We may be drawn to passages like Psalm 133:1 which says, How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!
In phase three, we enter into a serving phase. Passages that speak to doing things for God, serving Him, and joining Jesus in His Kingdom work will connect with us. This phase is often a long phase for people on their journey and some may stay in this phase for the rest of their lives. But for some, what follows is a season of disruption, or maybe disappointment, or disillusionment. We may be exhausted from serving, burned out, or simply not finding joy in serving.
This season of disruption often feels wrong to most, as though we have failed and that God is somehow no longer here. The Psalms are often places where we find encouragement in this season. For example, Psalm 42 speaks about a feeling of longing for God, of lostness and feeling abandoned by God. Verse 5 reads, Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? (NIV). Psalm 22 begins with the words, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest (1-2 NIV).
A season of disruption often leads to phase four which is a period of introspection, of transformation of our souls, a renewing of the mind. In the first three phases we focused our attention on external things. But now we shift our focus to our interior life. We become aware of the internal character flaws that we covered up or ignored while we were occupied with our activities.
Verses that give us hope during this phase may include, Philippians 1:6: Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (NIV) . Or John 17:17-19: Make them pure and holy through teaching them your words of truth. As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world, and I consecrate myself to meet their need for growth in truth and holiness (TLB) .
Phase four leads into phase five in which our deep relationship to Jesus becomes the most important thing to us on our journey. A key verse for this phase is John 15:15b when Jesus tells His disciples, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (NIV). Jesus’ modeling of His relationship with God the Father as “Abba” is another way that we are invited into an intimate relationship with God.
In any of these phases that we find ourselves, the verses that we find most meaningful may not be the same for someone in another phase of their journey. Conversely, Scripture that speaks to a phase other than the one we are in may not be as meaningful to us.
The fact that we may find some Scriptures more meaningful than others does not mean that some are “less true” than others, only that God, in His loving wisdom, strives to meet us where we are and speak to us what we need most to hear.