We skip the recap. We skip the intro. We fast-forward through the boring quest dialogue to get straight to the good part. In this message from our Relationship Series, Dakota Payne asks a simple but convicting question: are we doing the same thing with our seasons of life? Specifically speaking to the singles in the room (though there’s something here for everyone), Dakota unpacks why we’re so quick to skip past seasons we don’t love in pursuit of the ones we think we want — and why that habit can leave us completely unprepared when we finally get there.
Using Ecclesiastes 3 as a launching point, Dakota lays out the big idea for the message: don’t let the burdens of a season blind you from the benefits of the season. Every season — summer, winter, single, married — comes with both. The mistake isn’t being in a hard season; it’s letting the hard parts consume all your attention so you miss everything good that’s happening at the same time. From there, Dakota walks through 1 Corinthians 7 and makes the case that singleness isn’t a waiting room — it’s a gift, a season of undivided devotion that offers more freedom, more availability, and more opportunity to chase after God than almost any other season of life will allow.
The message gets practical fast: contentment isn’t found in the season you’re in, it’s found in the perspective you choose to have. Comparison will always tell you the grass is greener somewhere else, but Dakota reminds us that “it’s green where you water it.” Drawing from the animal kingdom’s intuitive understanding of seasonal preparation, Dakota challenges us to ask what God might actually be growing, shaping, and preparing us for right now — and what happens when we misunderstand the purpose of a season and show up to the next one unready for it.
The message closes with a challenge built around Luke 2:52 and a now-famous line from Andy Stanley: “Become the person the person you’re looking for is looking for.” Wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man — Dakota walks through each one practically, then lands on the real point underneath all of it: are you becoming the person Jesus died for you to become? Whether marriage ever comes or not, that pursuit is worth it. If you’re in a season you’re tempted to skip, this message is for you.
Biblical References:
Ecclesiastes 3:1, 9–13 (NIV) — A time for everything; the gift of God
1 Corinthians 7:32–35 (NIV) — Undivided devotion to the Lord
Philippians 4:11–13 (NIV) — The secret of being content in any situation
1 Corinthians 7:7 — “I wish all of you were as I am… each of you has your own gift from God”
Luke 2:52 (NIV) — Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man
1 Samuel — “People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart”
Genesis (referenced) — “It is not good for man to be alone”
