Everything changes, but some seasons seem to last forever. Here it is September, and it is still well over 90 degrees in Georgia. Let’s don’t even talk about the humidity!
But heat and humidity aren’t the only things that seem to drone on and on and on. Some prayers not only feel unanswered, but unheard altogether. In my life, I have cried the desperate prayers of wanting a baby, of waiting for healing, of wanting help for my loved one, of needing financial relief, of pain for my child that I can’t solve, of desperate loss and heartbreak, of blindsiding betrayal, just to name a few. I bet you have known some of these hard seasons also, and even more that are too painful to list.
But….
There is always a “but” for these seasons. Right now it is hard, but it will not last forever. Right now you don’t think you can go one more step, but somehow you do. Right now you cry yourself to sleep, but laughter still happens. Right now seems like it has been a struggle for as long as you can remember, but suddenly everything changes.
That’s the hope we have for hard seasons. I look back over my life and the pain of those seasons, while memorable, don’t look so long in the rearview mirror. The tapestry of my life has clearly been woven by Someone who is skilled and knows what the end result should be and how to achieve it. The Artist we serve is always faithful to complete the work He starts. (Philippians 1:6), and while what you see surrounding you in this moment might be ugly, you can count on the fact that He is creating a beautiful work in and for you. The interesting thing about a tapestry is the front shows the complete, intended image with clean details, while the back often displays loose yarn tails, knots, and reversed or floating threads. The back of the tapestry is what the artist sees most of; in our lives, it is what we see a great deal of. It’s only when the artist pauses and flips it over to review his work that the greater image is reflected. Sometimes we need to stop and look for the bigger picture.
The word suddenly, depending on the translation you use, appears somewhere between forty to ninety times in the Bible. We serve a God of “suddenly”. In light of eternity, all seasons are but a moment. While it doesn’t always feel that way on this side of Heaven, you can keep holding onto hope because our God, our Artist, our Creator, is making something beautiful. And suddenly, it will all make sense. Before you know it, we will look back on our hard seasons and find some purpose, some personal growth, some fruit of the Spirit that was developed because of that difficult time. Today might be hard, but tomorrow could bring the greatest joy you’ve ever known. Today might be a really good day, and suddenly your heart gets broken. But every step of the way, God is faithful to walk beside us and to hold us when we can’t even hold ourselves up.
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens.
-Ecclesiastes 3:1
Praying that this season of heat, humidity, and hard stuff passes suddenly!
Jesus loves you and so do I!
Dr. Allison Key
