What Is God’s Purpose for Difficult Seasons in Life?
Life’s journey is full of mountain top experiences and deep dark valleys that sometimes, seem to go on forever. This last week in Seattle, WA we have had nothing but rain and wind along with it starting to get dark at 4:00pm. We know we have a few months of this weather ahead of us and that can be challenging, but as we all know, the summers here are some of the best in the world. Our lives are full of contrasts with many ups and downs. Life is always changing, so how can we know if we’re in God’s will?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. 2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. 3A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. 4 A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. 5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. 6 A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. 7 A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. 8 A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. 9 What do people really get for all their hard work? 10 I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. 11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.
He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.
With life’s ever-changing seasons, one starts to wonder, what could a loving God possibly be thinking. We think we want sunshine all the time but without rain, we would be living in a desert.
Following God’s will doesn’t mean life always go the way we want. It means that no matter what is going on in our lives, we will eventually see God purpose for every challenge we face. They key seems to be, accepting the season you’re in and seeking God’s reason and timing.
Being in God’s will doesn’t mean everything will be easy and predictable. Life’s journey is a windy challenging path but it’s an adventure we can be thankful for, in good times and bad. You may be going through a rough season right now but hold on and pray with a patient and thankful heart because God can bring blessing out of any difficult situation.
What demanding situation do you need to trust God in today?
