FOR EVERYTHING A SEASON
Jenna Worsham
Today’s Scripture:
“For everything there is a season,
and a time for every matter under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1
Theme: God’s timing is perfect in all our seasons, moves, next steps, and even for our deaths – trust and endure.
DEATH
My grandma is in hospice care here in town with us. She has dementia and is declining physically. In October 2022, we knew something wasn’t right, but without a diagnosis, we could excuse it away. We needed help to care for her, yet with every step we took, we learned that her situation was more dire, requiring even more care. Now, our hopes for a stable, flexible, joy-filled season don’t seem to be playing out.
However, we have had time with her, and helped to care for her basic needs. She has a clean and comfortable room, quality medical and nursing care, and support from friends and family. Even with all of the help, her steady decline is hard, especially for my mom.
Watching someone you love become increasingly confused, suffer, and waste away is excruciating. Having to update everyone about her current state is also hard. It takes a toll on our minds, bodies, and our souls. I have found myself simultaneously wrestling with God about why this has happened so fast … and why it is taking so long for her to “go home” to heaven. We are worn out. Even so, I know that God’s timing is perfect. God provides, even while I don’t feel that truth in my current situation.
BIRTH
Last month, my brother and beloved sister (in-law) had their third child, a son. His newborn presence in our lives has been a balm to our raw souls through the hard parts of this season. Changing newborn diapers and walking for exercise with a new mom are totally different activities than holding a bony hand and trying to understand when words are too soft to hear. And yet newborns and the aged are in some ways the same. They need people to care for them. They have trouble communicating. They are, or become, helpless. They are close to a transition, in or out, of the season we all inhabit - incarnate life on Earth. They remind us of the life cycle and how beautiful yet fleeting it is.
TRUST AND ENDURE
For the transitions in life like birth, death, the end of a school year, the end of childhood, or the end of a career, God beckons us closer to Himself. He calls us to trust in Him, His goodness, and His perfect timing. We can trust Him with our transitions, the deaths of those we love, and our own deaths. Whatever your current situation, you can trust God in it. If it is joy, celebrate! Endure through this season, even if it feels interminable and unlovely, whether it feels like God has perfect timing or not. God doesn’t call us to fully understand, only to trust and to keep taking the next step as we follow Him.
Make It Personal: What season are you currently enduring, celebrating, or simultaneously doing both? What would trusting God look like for you today? How can you stay close to God while you persevere (or celebrate) through this season?
Pray: Father, Thank You for being in charge and not expecting me to manage everything. I’m conflicted about this season. In some ways, I don’t want it to end and in others, it can’t pass quickly enough. Give me a heart of wisdom and compassion so that I am able to take the next step to follow You. Help me to trust You completely...even when I do not understand. Please provide the strength it will take as I remain close to You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Read: Proverbs 3:5-6; 1 Chronicles 5:20; 2 Chronicles 13:18; Psalm 52:9
Weekly Memory Verse: "Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.” Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT