Especially in America, we are taught from birth that immediate is better... that quick fixes and instant results signify success and correct choices.
But don't many of the best and most beautiful things take TIME?
I've been reflecting on Ecclesiastes 3 where it says: "For God has made everything beautiful in it's time."
Tears, Laughter, Flowers, Planting, Death, Life, Working, Relaxing, War, Peace, Brokenness, and Healing.
Telling us there is a season for every single activity underneath the sun.
Nothing in the Bible would tell us that God is a God of "quick fixes". In fact, it would tell us quite the opposite. Especially with our salvation. It took Jesus hundreds of years to arrive, and 33 years on earth to accomplish his mission. But everything in between held so much purpose.
The only place God instantaneously creates is in the very beginning when He speaks Creation into existence. So is he capable of doing so? Absolutely. Yet, He chooses a different avenue with us as His children. He chooses a process-- a journey.
Because He knows it is in the process that our faith is strengthened, and our perseverance becomes greater. He knows in those painful and grueling places of endurance, He can mold us and shape us. He can speak to us and prove Himself the most faithful. He can prune us to the core and ask us what we really believe... what we really want. Because if it's HIM, nothing will shake our faith.
I'm in a season right now that is HARD. It's painful and it's really scary. As I beg God each day to H E A L as only He can, I often question why He doesn't just bring it now and take all my pain away. But I realized something on my run last night next to abandoned railroad tracks and underneath the stars:
Just like the weather, every season is just a season. Regardless of how it looks, what is happening, how it feels, or how hard it is, it doesn't change the spinning of the earth. The Universe is still held in place and God still sustains every moment. Whether it's snowing and blowing freezing wind on our faces, or it's pouring down rain for hours, or if the sun is shining brightly with a perfect breeze, it's just a season.
It is the same with our own seasons in life. Whether you are waking up each day with extreme heartache and hopelessness, or fighting against an apathetic heart, or if you are working through abuse in your past, or if you are dancing for joy in each moment of your week, or if you are seeking healing from physical ailments or emotional scars, or if you are the happiest you have ever been, it's just a season.
It doesn't change who God is, and it absolutely doesn't change who He has made you to be. It doesn't change the promise that He is sustaining your every breath. It doesn't mean your heart stopped beating. It doesn't stop His plan for your life. It doesn't change His hands holding your world. And it definitely never changes His love for you and His constant pursuit of your heart.
Don't allow what is happening around you take away from what God is doing IN you. He uses everything-- each and every season crafted beautifully for the time you are in it's bounds. Purposed to make YOU more beautiful and like Jesus in a way that only THAT season can.
Even the painful seasons. Especially the painful seasons. Let Him shape and heal. Let Him do what He alone promises to do.
A broken bone takes more than a magic pill to fix, it requires a cast, it takes TIME.
A caterpillar doesn't become a butterfly in a minute, it requires a cocoon, it takes TIME.
A flower doesn't appear a day after you plant a seed, it requires sunlight, it takes TIME.
I love using biological and ecological examples, because it reinforces that God's promises are everywhere. Not just in His word, but in His Creation. We can never forget.
Hold onto Him in whatever season you find yourself in. Remember He isn't giving up on you, He isn't stopping the Universe, He hasn't forgotten your story, He has a reason for everything going on in the season you are in.
And the more you hold onto Him in THIS season, the more you will fall in love with His heart and trust Him in the next.
Why do we assume that our timing is better when God is the author of time? His timing is perfect, His healing is constant, His promises prove true, His love is relentless, and He is always shaping us more like Himself.
-Han
"8 We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. 9 We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. 10 Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies." 2 Corinthians 4:8-10
No comments:
Post a Comment