HOW TO DISCERN THE 4 SPIRITUAL SEASONS

Have you heard of the 4 spiritual seasons? Or have you ever felt like your walk with God is changing, but you’re not quite sure why? Maybe one moment you feel on fire for God, and the next, it feels like He’s silent. Or perhaps you’re doing everything right, but nothing seems to be moving.

You’re not alone, and you’re not crazy. Just like nature, where we have seasons, the Christian life has spiritual seasons. Learning how to discern your spiritual seasons can help you walk with peace, patience, and purpose, no matter what you’re going through.

Let’s look at the 4 major spiritual seasons and how to recognise which one you’re in.

Let’s go!

1. Spring: New Beginnings & Pruning Season

Spring is the season of new life, fresh beginnings, and spiritual awareness. In nature, it’s when flowers begin to bloom, the sun shines brighter, and everything that looked dead in winter begins to come alive again. Spiritually, it’s no different. This season often comes after a period of waiting, stillness or barrenness, and it’s God’s way of announcing, “I’m doing something new.”

In John 15:1–8, Jesus uses the analogy of the vine and the branches to describe our relationship with Him. He says:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1–2)

Why is Pruning Necessary?

This picture of pruning can feel uncomfortable, especially in a season where we expect everything to be joyful and fresh. But in spring, pruning is essential to allow space for new things to spring forth. Just as gardeners prune and prepare the soil, God also cuts away what no longer serves our growth. Even though you’re stepping into something new, God may begin by removing things that cannot grow with you. That could be relationships, habits, mindsets, or environments. The purpose of pruning is not to punish but to prepare you for greater fruitfulness.

Jesus continues in verse 5:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

This verse is the heart of the spring season: remaining connected to Christ. Spring may be filled with new vision, ideas, or assignments, but God is reminding you: don’t run ahead. Stay in step with Him. When you’re rooted in Christ, your growth will be fruitful, lasting, and aligned with His will.

How Does God Do A New Thing in Our Lives?

Now let’s look at Isaiah 43:19, where God declares:

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”

Often, when we think of “new things,” we imagine open doors, exciting announcements, or breakthroughs. But God challenges us in this verse; can you perceive what He is doing, even if it doesn’t look like what you expected?

The word “perceive” implies spiritual awareness. Sometimes God begins His new work in hidden places, in the wilderness of your life. The spring season doesn’t always feel easy or clear. You may still be surrounded by uncertainty or difficulty, but beneath the surface, God is birthing something new.

He is saying, “Look again. I am making a way where you thought there was none.” It may not yet be visible, but if you’re sensitive to His Spirit, you’ll begin to discern the signs: doors slowly opening, peace returning, a renewed hunger for Him, or divine connections beginning to align.

Signs You’re in a New Beginnings & Pruning Season:

You sense a shift, God is drawing you into something new
Old desires are fading, and fresh ones are emerging
God is calling you to let go of things that were once comfortable
You feel the need to realign your life around Him

What to Do in New Beginnings & Pruning Season:

Stay deeply rooted in your relationship with Christ
Embrace the pruning process, it’s preparing you for more
Ask God to help you perceive what He’s doing, even if it’s hidden
Guard your heart and remain spiritually sensitive as He leads you into new beginnings

2. Summer: Dry & Wilderness Season

Summer is often associated with brightness, warmth, and fruitfulness, but in the spiritual sense, it can feel quite the opposite. Spiritually speaking, summer isn’t always easy. It can be a time of dryness, testing, and stretching, a wilderness season. It’s when you may not feel God’s presence, but He is still very much with you. It’s not the season of harvest just yet; it’s the space between promise and fulfilment, where your faith is tested, your heart is refined, and your trust in God deepens.

Why Did the Israelites Have to Go Through the Wilderness?

After being delivered from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites spent forty years in the wilderness before entering the Promised Land. This wasn’t simply because of poor decisions or delays, it was intentional. In Deuteronomy 8:2–3, Moses explains the purpose:

“Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna… to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

The wilderness was a place of testing, humbling, and dependence. God wanted to reveal what was truly in their hearts. Were they trusting Him, or were they still bound by fear and unbelief? He used the wilderness to strip away false security, teach obedience, and train them to rely on His provision, not their own.

God knew that before they could step into the inheritance, their character had to be shaped. The wilderness wasn’t about punishment, it was about preparation.

Why Did Jesus Go Through the Wilderness?

Another example is Jesus. Before beginning His public ministry, Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days (Matthew 4:1–11). There, He was tested by the devil but responded to each temptation with the Word of God.

What’s significant here is that even Jesus, the sinless Son of God, had a wilderness season. It was not a mistake. It was divinely orchestrated to prepare Him for His assignment. In the wilderness, Jesus demonstrated faithfulness, self-control, spiritual maturity, and unwavering obedience.

If Jesus had to go through the wilderness to be proven and prepared, we too, should expect God to use dry and difficult seasons to refine, equip, and strengthen us.

What Is God Trying to Teach Us in the Wilderness?

The wilderness is not a sign that you’re off track; it may be the clearest sign that God is preparing you for something greater. He uses the wilderness to:

Reveal your heart – not to shame you, but to heal and transform you
Break dependency on anything that isn’t Him – whether that’s people, achievements, comfort, or control
Teach you His voice – in the quiet, you learn to recognise and rely on God’s voice above all
Build spiritual endurance – dry seasons produce lasting strength and depth in your faith
Reset your identity – just as Jesus’ identity as the Son of God was affirmed before and during the wilderness, so God reminds you who you are, not based on performance but relationship

In Hosea 2:14–15, God says something tender and powerful about the wilderness:

“Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her… There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.”

This shows us that the wilderness is not a place of abandonment; it’s where God draws us closer. He speaks to us there. And what looked like a valley of trouble (Achor) becomes a door of hope.

Signs You’re in a Dry & Wilderness Season:

You feel spiritually dry or distant, even though you’re seeking God
You are in a place of transition with little clarity
You are facing trials or temptations that challenge your faith
God seems silent, and the breakthrough feels delayed

What to Do in Dry & Wilderness Season:

Stay anchored in the Word of God, like Jesus in Matthew 4
Trust that God is with you, even when you don’t feel it
Let the wilderness produce endurance, not resentment
Ask God what He’s trying to show you about yourself and about Him
Keep walking in obedience, even when it’s hard

3. Autumn: Harvest & Blessings Season

In nature, autumn is the season when the hard work of planting and nurturing begins to bear visible fruit. Trees shed their leaves, crops are gathered, and there is a sense of fulfilment in the air. Spiritually, autumn represents the harvest season, a time of reaping, reward, and visible breakthrough. But it’s also a time of responsibility, discernment and humility.

Paul writes in Galatians 6:7–9:

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

Understanding the Principle of Sowing and Reaping

Paul is teaching us the principle of sowing and reaping. Harvest does not happen by chance, it is the direct result of what has been sown over time. In the seasons before autumn, particularly spring and summer, you are planting, pruning, enduring, and watering seeds in faith. You may not always see the results immediately, but God sees every act of obedience, every unseen sacrifice, and every moment you chose to walk in the Spirit when it would have been easier to give up.

Paul reminds us that God is not mocked. In other words, He is not unjust. He will ensure that what you plant, good or bad, will eventually produce fruit. If you have been sowing faith, integrity, kindness, discipline, or sacrificial love, the harvest season will reveal it.

At the same time, Paul warns us not to sow to please the flesh. This means making choices based on pride, selfishness, comfort, or sin. Those seeds will produce a harvest too, but one of frustration, destruction, or delay.

Why Does God Delay the Harvest?

The verse says, “at the proper time, we will reap a harvest…” That means the harvest is not just about what you sow, but when God decides it is time for you to reap. Sometimes we do all the right things but grow discouraged because we don’t see immediate results. That’s why Paul says, “Let us not become weary in doing good…”

The harvest season requires perseverance and maturity. If we give up too soon out of frustration, impatience, or doubt, we can miss what God was preparing to release.

Stewarding the Harvest Well

We must also understand that with great blessing comes great responsibility in spiritual seasons like the harvest season. In autumn, farmers do not stop working, they change the nature of their work. Harvest requires discernment. You need to know what is ripe, what still needs time, and how to gather and store what has been produced. The same is true spiritually. When God begins to bring things to fruition in your life, He expects you to handle it with wisdom and humility.

The harvest is not the end, it’s a moment of celebration and reward, yes, but it also marks a transition into new responsibility. It may even be the preparation for another cycle of sowing and growing. That’s why staying close to God in this season is just as vital as in the wilderness.

Signs You’re in a Harvest & Blessings Season:

Long-awaited prayers or promises are beginning to manifest
You feel a new level of peace, joy, or clarity
God is opening doors and increasing your influence or resources
You see fruit in areas where you once struggled or laboured without reward

What to Do in Harvest & Blessings Season:

Encourage others who are still in their planting or wilderness seasons
Thank God and celebrate His faithfulness
Stay humble, remember that the harvest comes from Him
Be wise with what He’s entrusted to you
Keep sowing, even in abundance, knowing that seasons are cyclical

4. Winter: Waiting & Preparation Season

In the natural world, winter is a time of stillness. The trees are bare, the ground is hard, and there appears to be little sign of life. Winter can feel quiet, slow, and even lonely. To the untrained eye, it might seem like nothing is happening, but spiritually, beneath the surface, much is taking place. It’s often a season of deep preparation in the waiting. Things may feel “on pause,” but in fact, winter is a vital season for strengthening roots, conserving energy, and preparing for the growth to come.

Spiritually, winter represents the season of waiting and preparation, a time when things may feel delayed, stagnant, or even barren. You may not see the fruit of your prayers, and God may feel quiet. But this season is anything but wasted.

What is God Doing in the Waiting & Preparation Season?

Waiting is one of the greatest tests of faith. It’s where God often chooses to work on what cannot be seen: our motives, our character, our trust in Him. He removes distractions, confronts hidden fears, and repositions our hearts to depend fully on Him.

Isaiah 40:31 reminds us:
“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”

The word “wait” here does not imply passivity. It means to actively trust, to expect, and to lean into God, knowing He is at work even when we don’t see it.

In the winter season, God is saying:

Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)
Prepare the ground before I send the rain
Let Me prune what you do not need so that you can bear more fruit later (John 15:2)
Trust Me to fulfil the vision in its appointed time (Habakkuk 2:3)

Waiting is Not Wasted

One of the most powerful things God does in spiritual seasons like the waiting season is to refine our identity. In seasons of silence, when platforms, recognition, or results are stripped away, we come face-to-face with who we are when no one is watching. This is where intimacy with God deepens. Our roots grow strong when we’re not distracted by visible outcomes.

Habakkuk 2:3 says:
“For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”

The waiting and preparation season teaches us that God’s timing is perfect, and our job is not to control the outcome but to be faithful in the preparation.

Biblical Examples of Waiting & Preparation Season

Joseph waited in prison for years, forgotten and unseen, but he was being prepared for leadership that would save nations.
Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before returning to lead Israel, learning humility, obedience, and dependence on God.
David was anointed king as a teenager but spent years hiding in caves, waiting for God’s appointed time to step into his calling.
Even Jesus lived in obscurity for 30 years before beginning His public ministry.

Each of them faced a “winter”, but it was in the waiting that their faith was matured, their character shaped, and their trust in God sealed, which is required for spiritual seasons.

What God is Teaching Us in Wait

Patience and Trust – Learning to trust God’s plan and timing even when we don’t understand the delays.
Obedience in the Quiet – Remaining faithful with what’s in your hand while waiting for what’s in your heart.
Preparation for What’s Coming – God often prepares the vessel before He pours into it. Hidden seasons are preparation for the weight of future assignments.
Surrender – Letting go of your own timelines, agendas, and control, and trusting God’s greater story.
Spiritual Maturity – Growing deep in the Word, prayer, and intimacy with God without relying on feelings or signs.

Signs You’re in a Waiting & Preparation Season:

Things feel slow, dry, or uncertain
God seems quiet or distant
Opportunities seem few, and doors feel closed
You feel a pull to go deeper in your faith and spend more time in prayer, rest, or reflection

What to Do in Waiting & Preparation Season:

Seek God daily, even if it feels like He’s silent
Reflect and journal on what He’s revealing in this stillness
Prepare for the next season; study, plan, and build behind the scenes
Release the need for answers, and rest in His presence
Don’t compare your season to someone else’s visible harvest

Understanding the 4 spiritual seasons can bring clarity, peace, and purpose to your walk with God. Whether it’s a time of pruning, wilderness, harvest, or waiting, each of these spiritual seasons is a part of His greater plan to grow and mature your faith. Instead of resisting the process, lean into it, knowing that God is working in every moment, even when it’s not visible. Embrace your current season with trust, and let it draw you closer to Him.

If this post blessed you, consider sharing it with someone else who may be wondering why things feel different in their walk with God or is struggling to discern between different spiritual seasons. And remember: spiritual seasons change, but God remains faithful.

Stay blessed,

Divine L.

Divine L

Hi, I am Divine L., your sister-in-F.A.I.T.H., who is passionate about discipling Christian girls to be a walking embodiment of Jesus Christ in their daily lives and to help young girls and woman become who God destined for them to become. It is a great blessing to welcome you to the F.A.I.T.H. sisterhood!