Debbie shares her thought for the week; the season won’t last forever.

When I was pregnant with my first child someone gave me some really valuable advice that I have passed on many many times over the years. The advice was this; remember everything is a face. Sometimes it’s a long phase, sometimes it’s a short phase, sometimes it’s a really fun, sweet phase and sometimes it’s horrendous. But remember it’s a phase and that will make life easier.

As a parent with small children it was always good to know that some things were actually going to end. But also it was really sad when other phases reached their natural conclusion and I look back now and I’m sad that my children sometimes don’t do these things anymore!

In the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3 it says something similar.

To everything there is a season and a time for every activity under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

The same chapter then starts to expand on that and explains some of the things that we might see as having being seasonal. So a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to harvest, a time to cry and a time to laugh, a time to grieve and a time to dance. And many other things that we would know are seasonal.

I don’t know what season or phase you are in or whether it’s a wonderful or terrible time but I do know that whatever season we are in God hasn’t changed. And he neither are his plans or purposes for our lives, neither have they changed. He’s still in charge and we need to trust his timing. God is never phased or astonished by what is happening around us. In fact he’s already at the end of this phase preparing us for the next season that we’re going to find ourselves in. He knows what we need even before we need it.

So what should we do in the middle of this season? How should we respond? Well firstly, enjoy the season. That’s much, much easier said than done. And sometimes we just can’t even spot the small bits of joy but there’s always joy to be found. A meeting with a friend, ticking something off your list, a moment looking at God’s beautiful creation. Secondly, recognize that God’s hand is at work in the situation you’re in, even in the smallest way and he will keep his promises. Whatever he has promised you, it will come to past. He’s promised that he’s with you, he will be with you.

So today I pray that God will meet you right in the season that you are in and he’ll remind you he’s with you but also that he never ever left. These seasons will come and they will go but God stays the same and he’s always with us.

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.