For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.  (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

There is only one way to do whatever season you are in well.  You have to embrace it!  You don’t have to love it.  No one loves to be in a season of grief, or conflict, or illness, or loneliness, but if that’s where you are you have to let it be.

This has been a hard lesson for me to learn.  Last week in God’s Got Your Back I talked about how this past school year had been hard for me without my girls being home with me every single day.  Them moving out made me feel my grief over the loved ones I had lost even more.  Here I was in a season of life where I would have time for the ones I wanted to spend my time with and they were no longer here.  I’ll admit I spent too much of this past year whining about my season and waiting for it to change.  Then being mad that it seemed like it never would.

I also wanted to be able to run with my Social Running Club again and make connections there but the pain in my feet that lead to surgery made that impossible.  I can’t even run around the block right now so the half marathons I’m signed up for and want to be training for are a no go right now.  I spent too much time thinking about how unfair all this was.  The timing of it all made no sense to me.

Then this summer an overwhelming peace that can only come from the Lord washed over me. 

I was driving to Summer School which wasn’t my regular campus.  It was located in the neighborhood I last lived in with my husband when he was still alive 17 years ago.  When I first realized where I was, tears began to fall and I started to feel anxiety.  This then made me think about all the recent losses I’ve had. 

But as I drew closer to the school I started to smile.  I had a choice.  I could be angry again that I lost my husband at such a young age.  I could be angry again that I had to go through that exact same pain just two years ago when my boyfriend of eleven years died of a heart attack.  I could be angry again that my dad left this world just a few short months after that OR I could choose to see the blessings.  I was loved not once but twice in this lifetime by incredible men who were an added bonus to the love my daddy had for me.  Not only that but I have been blessed with two amazing daughters who now as adults are my closest friends.

At that moment my tears of sadness turned to tears of joy.  As soon as I parked I began to pray.  And at that moment I knew that not only was I not alone, I never had been.  The Lord was always there.  This time that I thought was my time with others is supposed to be my time with Him. My time to grow deeper in my faith again.  My time to be prepared for what He has next.  My time of healing. My time to come alive again!

The Lord has been too good to me to not embrace where He has me at this moment and as soon as I began to embrace this unfamiliar season He has me in, He began to lay things on my heart.  Big, scary things!  Things I didn’t want to say out loud but couldn’t let go of so I knew they had to be from Him. Then I realized He had already placed the right people in my path to show me how to make those things happen.  I am so thankful and blessed to serve a right on time God!  

You see He has a plan for me but I had to go through some things to get where He needed me to be.  I had to go through some things so He could give me a testimony.  I had to go through some things so that He could give me a heart for those who are grieving, a heart for those who are weathering a storm, a heart for those who need some encouragement.  He brought me to a season where I was so broken, only He could pick me up and put me back together again.  Not a man, not my children, not a friend, but Him!

He brought me to a season where I could say to you dear friends, if He will do it for me, He will do it for you!  If He will bring me through, He will bring you through too!  If He can give me a peace that surpasses all understanding, He can do the very same thing for you!

I don’t know what your season is right now.  I don’t know the struggles you face or the storm that is brewing around you but I do know that our Father wants you to embrace this time He has you in.  He wants to teach you something.  He wants to prepare you for something.  He wants you to shift your focus back to Him.  Where you are right now is important to Him.  He has placed you there for a reason. He is going to do great and mighty things for you and through you!

As you go through this season, remember you are not alone!

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.  (Deuteronomy 31:8)

 

What season are you in?  What are you learning? 

 

I also asked this question on my Instagram page so if you need more encouragement on embracing your season, you can read it here!