Learning to Receive the Season You’re In - Your Nightly Prayer - September 23
Learning to Receive the Season You’re In
TONIGHT'S SCRIPTURE
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
SOMETHING TO PONDER
When I was 19, I thought forty was old - imagine enduring the decrepitude of such a long life! Now, in my early fifties, parts of me certainly feel older than others. Even getting out of bed can be a reminder of how broken everything is and was never meant to be. God made us and declared us “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Yet, halfway (or more) through life, I count the places in my body that hurt and the people I loved who have died. I nap sometimes after eight hours on my feet at work, a new weakness I can hardly bear. This is a strange, transitional time of starting to count the cost of living life past fifty.
Yet, my fifties are also a beautiful time. A friend called me “wise” the other day. When I was 19, those silly, superficial goals of mine had so little to do with anything as beautiful as wisdom. Yet now I find myself capable of learning new things and notice a resilience born of years of experiencing the Lord’s constancy in trials, which I can pass on to others who are at an earlier stage, still testing the promises of God against their own challenging seasons and the turmoil of sanctification.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 reminds me that there is a time for beauty. Some things will become beautiful after being ugly for a while - a mountainside coated in volcanic ash, devoid of any living thing, suddenly displays brightly coloured flowers which can only grow under these conditions; after a forest fire, while blackened trees still stand, fireweed rises to almost six feet tall, ablaze with bright pink flowers. I will also eventually see the usefulness and beauty of each stage of my life if I trust the Lord with them. Flowers grow out of the ashes of our troubles (Isaiah 61:3). The true reason for certain painful phases of life might remain mysterious for eternity, at least to me: the Lord knows what it was all about. He sees the end from the beginning and has decided the season I am in is good for now. This has been deeply reassuring in the midst of unwelcome times in my life, but has also transformed my perspective on those phases.
YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER
Father, I want to learn to receive the season I am in with humility, knowing you have permitted and possibly prescribed this time for my growth. Help me to be open to joy no matter the nature of that season. When I am at risk of feeling bitter, remind me, Father, that you are close and you are Sovereign. No phase of my life will be wasted, and you are always there with me. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus’ name, amen.
THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON
1.Maybe what we really need is new eyes to see and new ears to hear. There is already beauty in every experience; we just cannot see it because we are focused on how unwelcome the circumstances of this season are. Consider asking the Lord for a new perspective.
2.And yet, when we encounter discouragement or confusion, we must also acknowledge those feelings of disappointment, fear, or sadness so that we can ask God to send help. He has given us his Holy Spirit, who lives within us. He has also put people around us whom the Lord can use as helpers, counselors, and encouragers.
3.Remember the difficult seasons. We are so apt to forget how bad things were, like the Israelites on the other side of the Red Sea moaning to Moses because they were hungry (Exodus 16). We like the grass over there, not the grass where we are standing. But as Isaiah 40:8 reminds us, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Earthly beauty and trials alike are fleeting.
Reflect on tonight’s prayer and share how God met you there. Join the Your Nightly Prayer discussion on the Crosswalk Forum.
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Related Resource: Praying Through Psalm 68: When God is Bigger Than Your Problems!
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