ROOTED RENEGADE

There are times in our lives where we are stuck in cycles. Continuous cycles we can’t seem to find a way out of sometimes for months even years. It could be an addiction, anxiety, fear, grief, or something else that just won’t seem to go away no matter what you try. Cycles don’t just disappear. They may lay dormant but they always return. That is because the enemy works in cycles. What may exist in your life started well before you. If you trace the roots of origin it usually started with someone in your family before you. Your mom, dad, aunt, uncle, older sibling, grandmother, etc. It’s generational cycles that people get stuck in then they get passed down the family line. You see you can pass a cycle just like a curse because you get stuck in cycles. All the enemy has to do is get your mama stuck in negative self talk and she will pass it right on to you because you will pick up the same cycle as you get older and hear how she talks to herself. Don’t believe me? Next time you are looking in the mirror at yourself, be mindful of how you speak to yourself when you are trying on those jeans or shirt. Then, think about how you heard your mama do the same thing growing up. Maybe your grandmother or aunt (or dad or brother). You just need to grab a hold of a cycle that the enemy presents to you and off you go! You will continue the cycle for years until you realize you don’t have to stay stuck in it. I have heard it said time and time again, all the devil has to do is give us the temptation of sin, and we will do the rest. Meaning, all he has to do is get us to walk into a cycle of abuse, addiction, negative self talk, hatred, or gossip, and we will continue it. That is, if we don’t understand or have the knowledge of the counter attack to cycles. Seasons.

God has always and will always have a counter attack to the enemy. When Eve bit the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, God already had the counter to Satan’s cycle which Eve walked into and brought Adam with her – Jesus. The Blood of Jesus defeated Satan on the cross and gave us redemption for our sins. So how do we get out of those cycles since the blood of Jesus already won the battle? We must understand the seasons of God. Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that “there is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens”. Time – something many of us feel we don’t have enough of and chase nonetheless. Seasons – we see that there are four seasons a year and most of us have a favorite. It would most likely be safe to say that a good bit of the population has at least once predicted when summer was coming, fall was starting, and when it was going to rain or snow. We seem to be “good” at predicting the weather and forecasts but terrible at predicting seasons in our own lives. We have gotten really good at grabbing the umbrellas and ponchos when the sky gets dark or wearing shorts when we feel the shifts in temperatures yet tend to be shocked when one of our children or siblings goes off the rails and dives head first into a meth or heroine addiction or ends up in prison. We are shocked when someone gets ill with cancer or falls victim to a crime, yet we are certain that it is going to rain or be hot (and we usually say “hot as hell” like we could really know how hot that really is in its true context). Our limited viewpoints always point to a limited context because we typically tend to be stuck in cycles not understanding the real seasons of a Holy, Sovereign, Omnipotent God.

The seasons of God depicted in the Bible, the ones we should come to an understanding of so we can be free of the cycles of the enemy, have less to do with the four seasons and more to do with planting, pruning, living, tending, watering, war, and peace, and more. God, while concerned with weather, because after all, He did create it, is also concerned with bringing glory to Himself through His creation. Which means you and I being able to function and operate in a capacity that is honoring to Him. This would mean allowing Him to operate through us. Therefore we go through seasons in life which are meant to mold and shape us into His image, the one we were created in the first place. Yet our sin has created a distortion of that image, cracks in our identity, if you will, that need repairing. In a season of planting there will be a time of great a process has to take place in you where you will go through a level of growth in order to understand what seeds are being deposited into you. You must understand that in planting, you had already gone through the uprooting season. The painful season where God had to till you, prune you, and prepare you for the planting. Which is a completely different season. Think of it as a garden, if you like gardening (if you don’t you may need to do some research). A garden must be tilled in order to plant any seeds. Otherwise they won’t take deep roots in the soil. A seed will germinate in soil, but the roots won’t be deep enough for the plant to sustain in the length of time it needs to grow to full maturation. Some seeds take 10-15 days before sprouting, some take 25-30 days, and some take even longer. It all depends on the type of seed being planted. Some seeds take years to germinate depending on what God is planting (not what you are planting). (Matthew 13:1-9)

The planting season is not to be rushed along by our “good intentions” or our impatience. This is where we try to determine if it is going to rain or not. We are not God (and most of us are not meteorologists). We don’t sit on the throne in Heaven (nor would we really want to sit on God’s throne and make decisions). We must be patient and allow the season to come to full fruition if we are to step out of the cycles we are used to and allow God to do a good work in us. Otherwise, we stay trapped in the schemes of the enemy. Cycles have a way of trying to uproot what is being planted. Keeping us trapped in generational bondage. That is not what God wants for us, but it can happen if we are not careful. Understanding who you are in Christ, God’s word, how you can step out and break those generational cycles is going to help you be free.

Start to understand the seasons of God. There is a time to plant and a time to uproot (Ecc. 3:2b) which is a season of inner healing in your life which will lead to fruitfulness if you allow it. Walking out of cycles can be hard. One thing I have realized as I have done it is that others tend to want to stay in them. Cycles can be comfortable for people. You must choose whether you want to live or die – a spiritual death can be much worse than a physical one. Choose life. Today choose to walk out of those destructive cycles and choose to live a life free of bondage.

Praying that as you read this, Holy Spirit reveals to you those cycles so you can walk into the seasons God has for you and you can be free from all bondage in the Name of Jesus!

Faythe

Scriptures for further reading:

Matthew 13:1-9

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. ² Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. ³ Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred,sixty or thirty times what was sown. ⁹ Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.