There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens. – (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV)
There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time. – (Ecclesiastes 3:1, ERV)
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth. – (Ecclesiastes 3:1, MSG)
This is a crazy reality right now. In fact, it has been so for a little over a year now. One event can overturn the direction you had imagined yourself walking, yet in the midst of it, there is an awareness and a peace that you are where you need to be, despite how different things are than you thought they would be. For me and my family, my mom’s stroke created a new season for all of us. Because I had plenty of sick leave and the FMLA Laws provide time, I was able to go and spend an extended season in Wenatchee with my mom, in the early months of her recovery. My sister, was able to travel back and forth during that time, to ultimately prepare for the next season, where mom would go and live with she and her family. As mom regained strength and mobility, we recognized her time away from her own community needed to end. When mom moved back to Wenatchee, she began a time of reconnecting with her dearest friends, attending her own church, and discovering what she could accomplish on her own in a safe environment. Then, the COVID-19 lockdowns began to take place in senior living communities. The freedoms that mom had been enjoying, were suddenly removed. Additionally, we are not allowed to visit, as access is restricted to all who live or work in that community, only. Incredibly, despite having her social life seemingly snatched from her grasp, right there in her own town, mom continues to be incredibly positive, working tirelessly on her walking and reaching out to call those whom she wishes she could see, in her circle. What is my point in all this? Well, I guess the greatest observation is simply that there is a season for everything, but it is not necessarily when we think it ought to be. Last spring and summer looked far different than I had imagined, but it was the right time to be in that space. Now, a year later, we are heading into our third month of stay-at-home orders. Again, not at all what I envisioned with two seniors graduating, and all of the activities and celebrations slated to take place senior year, but God is good, and is present, despite the losses we are grieving. In this space, we wait and trust, knowing that God is good and that there will be a season again soon, where we can see and spend time with those whom we are missing. May we seek the Lord and trust His timing, for His plans for us are good.
There will be a time,
A season anew;
When things we have hoped,
Will at last come true.
A time to gather,
To join, reconvene;
Where all will make sense,
God’s good will be seen.
While in this season,
Of wait and we’ll see;
Choose trust in Jesus,
For what’s yet to be.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You that even in this, we can recognize that there are seasons of waiting and seasons of moving out into the new. Thank You that the two can happen simultaneously in You. Forgive us for our frustration in seasons of waiting, or times where what we are walking through looks different than what we had hoped or imagined. Teach us to trust You and Your ability to work all things together for good. Show us how to love those around us in this season of waiting. May many come into a lasting relationship with You, for You are always present and prepared to supply whatever we need. Be glorified O God, as we trust Your timing for all that lies ahead, knowing that Your plans and purposes are for good. Amen.
© Shannon Elizabeth Grabrick and Revelations in Writing, May 2011 – present
Those who know Your Name trust in You, for You, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek You. – Psalm 9:10
Revelations In Writing 