a time for everything

Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-15, Galatians 6:9

A reminder for today, no matter where you are at <3

Seasons of transition can be some of the most difficult yet exciting, and challenging yet sweet. I was in high school when for the first time, I learned what major transition felt like. My family moved from small-town Cashmere, Washington to Ludington, Michigan, and many of the things that had been familiar to me completely changed. We don’t always love when seasons change, with endings and new beginnings, but the Lord invites us into beautiful opportunities to know Him deeper and to grow. During the transition of making new friends and trying to feel at home in a new place, the Lord met me right where I was at—and He wants to do the same for you.

Ecclesiastes 3:2-8 hints at the vast amount of transitions and seasons that we experience—

“a time to give birth and a time to die;

a time to plant and a time to uproot;

a time to kill and a time to heal;

a time to tear down and a time to build;

a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance;

a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing;

a time to search and a time to count as lost;

a time to keep and a time to throw away;

a time to tear and a time to sew;

a time to be silent and a time to speak;

a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.”

Our lives are ever-changing and in constant transition, and there’s simply a time for everything. (Ecc. 3:1) Reading this list, it’s easy for us to see clearly the things we’d rather avoid. There may be words in this list that make you want to scroll away or flip the pages and run from thinking about it. I don’t want to think about any season of uprooting! But we are reminded, “He has made everything appropriate in its time.” (Ecc. 3:11)

When we are struggling in any season, God has made it perfect in its time and our call is to be present in it. How much might we miss if we attempt to ignore all that God wants to teach us? We are called to embrace each moment, and never tire of following Jesus (Galatians 6:9). We may feel weak, but the Lord’s grace and strength are sufficient for you right now, in this moment. Invite Him to open your eyes and ears—to all that He’s doing in the lives around you and all that He wants to be teaching you. Don’t wait for the next comfortable season when everything feels put together to trust God and embrace the moment. He is trustworthy and present with you now.

Ecclesiastes 3:14 says, “I know that everything God does will last forever…God works so that people will be in awe of him.”Your life is a beautiful story that God is writing, and it’s all a part of His greater story that will bring you into abundance with Him, and eternal glory to Him. God isn’t asking us to handle things perfectly with smiles on our faces all the time. Rather, we seek Him daily in all honesty and rawness, resting in His grace and strength, whether we are mourning or dancing, laughing or weeping. Don’t let this season pass without fully embracing God’s glory being displayed in your life right now.