There's a Season for Everything: Trusting God's Timing

Have you ever looked at your life right now and thought, "This isn't how it used to be"?

Maybe you miss a friendship, a routine, a version of yourself, or a time when things felt easier. I've been there. It's so easy to sit in the memories and wish we could go back.

But lately God has been gently reminding me of something: everything happens in His time.

A season for everything

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

I love that this verse doesn't say some things have a season and the rest are just random. It says everything. The seasons that feel full of joy, and the seasons that feel quiet, slow, or even painful.

None of them are wasted. None of them catch God by surprise.

The season of fighting with food

Because of my hormone imbalance, I fight a battle with food all the time. There are foods I love and can't eat. Not because I don't want to, but because my body can't handle them.

Some days that feels unfair. Other people just eat what they like and move on, and I'm standing there reading labels and saying no.

For a long time I looked at that as something that was taken from me.

"Why does God always make me sick?"

Recently I was dealing with acute inflammation. I was in pain, I was tired, and I was frustrated. I asked my sister, "Why does God always make me sick?"

She didn't give me a quick answer. She guided me back to the word of God.

And there it was again. "A time to heal" sits right inside that same chapter (Ecclesiastes 3:3). There's a season to be sick, and a season to be healthy and happy. They both belong to Him.

A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build.

Ecclesiastes 3:3

When you're sick, slow down

Here's what I realised. When we're sick, that is the time to rest and heal. It isn't the time to rush, push through, and keep working like nothing is wrong.

I used to treat rest like I was falling behind. Now I see it as obedience. Taking time to relax and let my body recover is part of the season.

I also realised that being sick is not a bad thing. Of course it's painful and difficult. I'm not pretending it isn't. But God has a plan in it. He purifies us.

But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.

Job 23:10

The healing I didn't expect

My health journey has been a big question mark. But I never doubted God. I always knew He wasn't going to heal certain things miraculously. And honestly, even with all my prayers, I never had a miracle healing.

But God gave me something different. He put a passion in my heart to learn about health. He guided me to the right way of eating so my body could heal.

That taught me something. The healing didn't skip me. It just came as a journey, one meal, one lesson, one day at a time.

So now I don't pray, "God, heal me." I pray, and I rejoice in this journey, even in the pain. And I thank God for healing my body.

The season of marriage and a busy life

There's another season I've been in. After I got married, I got really stuck on one thought: how much time I used to spend with God.

In my single days, I had so much more time. Quiet mornings, long prayers, hours with the Bible. Now my days are full. Work, cooking, everyday life, and somewhere in the middle of it all I'm trying to find time for Him. And honestly, it's difficult.

I'd feel guilty. I'd think, "I'm not as close to God as I used to be."

But here's what's funny. Back in my single days, whenever that thought came to my mind, I had heard a story. It was about a mom. She said how difficult it is being a mom, and how busy life gets. So she takes five minutes while she's in the shower to talk to God.

And God told her that's all He needs.

I keep coming back to that. God isn't counting my hours. He isn't disappointed because my season looks different now. He just wants me, even if it's five minutes in the shower, a quiet prayer while I cook, or a thank you in the middle of a busy day.

Your time with God can change with the season, and He still meets you in it.

Why your today looks different

If you're comparing your life now with how it used to be, I understand. Some things are gone. Some people are in different places. Some things you prayed for haven't happened yet.

But being sad about the past doesn't change it. It only steals the day God has given you right now.

A season ending doesn't mean God left. It means He is moving you into something new, even when you can't see it yet.

Rejoice in the moment

This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

This is the day He made. Not last year's day, and not the day you're worried about next month. This one.

So I'm practising rejoicing right where I am. Saying thank you for the ordinary morning. Noticing what God is doing in this season instead of only what He did in the last one.

Be thankful for each season

Every season teaches us something.

• The sick seasons teach us to rest and trust Him.
• The waiting seasons teach us patience.
• The joyful seasons teach us gratitude.
• The quiet seasons teach us to listen.

I don't want to rush through any of them wishing for a different one. I want to come out the other side more thankful and more like Him.

A better season is coming

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

This is the promise I'm holding onto. God makes everything beautiful in its time, not in ours.

If you're in a season that feels heavy or different right now, please hear this: God will bring a better season again. He always does. He is faithful, and He is not finished with your story.

A prayer

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for every season of my life, the ones I loved and the ones I didn't understand. Thank you for the seasons of sickness that teach me to slow down and rest in You. Thank you for meeting me in the busy moments, even when all I have is five minutes. Help me not to hold on to the past or worry about the future. Teach me to rejoice in today and to trust Your timing. Thank you for healing my body in the way You chose. I know You make all things beautiful in their time, and I believe a better season is coming.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Carrying it into your week

Here are four things I'm choosing this week:

• Rest over rushing.
• Five minutes with God, even on a busy day.
• Gratitude over looking back.
• Joy in today, right where I am.

So, friend, what season are you in right now, and what is one thing you can be thankful for in it?