THERE’S A TIME FOR IT.
I was thumbing through my bible in the early morning hours this week and was prompted by my daily devotional to spend some time in Ecclesiastes Chapter 3. The chapter opens with, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
I began to unpack that verse. It’s simple. Yet full of depth. And it felt applicable in so many ways to me. My mind began to race in all the ways I felt connected to this verse about life’s seasons, but inevitably I found myself back at my most recent low (aka the year of 2024). As I’ve noted before, it was a terribly challenging year for me. One I wouldn’t sign up for ever again, and in many ways, one I’d like to wipe from my memory because of the pain it held. Have you had a season like this too? I don’t know about you, but sometimes I simply get angry about it. Pondering all the reasons why I had to go through the events, moments and tears that held such crippling anxiety, loss, judgement, fear, and hopelessness.
At this point, I shook myself out of the zone of self-pity I had quickly dove headfirst into, and continued reading…
“A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance…” (Ecclesiastes 2-4)
Do you know what this verse depicts? Humanness. The evolution, the rollercoaster and the cycle of life that we’re all on. And somehow, with that acknowledgement, I began to feel comforted about my wake of sorrows. Because there is no one without the other. No good without the bad. No realization of the beauty without knowing what the ugly looks like.
It’s cool really, when you realize how intricately God designed the human experience. The day I realized that our time here on earth was meant for suffering and that our true peace lies when we enter the pearly gates of heaven, was the moment I could finally accept that while some seasons are harder than others, all of them will pass, and that there’s a greater gift waiting on the other end when all is said and done.
I share this reflection of my quiet time with you to inspire hope to keep going. If you are in a dark season, it will pass. You will feel beauty, light and joy again. And you’ll step into that lighter season with more wisdom and gratitude than you had before. So I encourage you to accept that new notch on your belt, and to have a heart to hear what it’s teaching you.
I’d love to hear what this verse stirs in your heart, too. Will you share with me below?
WITH GRATITUDE,
CAROLINE