Don’t Wish Just Yet
Have you ever tried to wish away the season you are in? Maybe it’s the season of being in school or the season of being single. Maybe you’re in a season of little to no true friends or a season of struggling with insecurities or family issues. Whatever the season, I want to remind you that God uses every circumstance and feeling in your life to make you into who you are made to be. The person God shapes you to be through everything will benefit you more than you know, if you keep your eyes fixated on Him. In addition, the person God is making you to be will glorify Him. God is so intentional in preparing you for your future relationships, and calling, in a way that is unknown to you right now. You may feel like you are ready to take on all that you dream of now, but since you haven’t, you are behind in some way.
But how can you be late in a plan that is not yours or on a timeline you know nearly nothing about?
The enemy wants to steal any gratitude and joy you have for all God has given you presently.
Isaiah 55:8-9 states, “for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." If there is one thing I have learned while living life with Jesus is that He is consistently intentional in everything. You will find there are many highs and lows in life, but Jesus is constant and is intentional with each season you walk through. Philippians 4:11-13 states, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” I’m sure you’ve heard that last line from a Christian athlete at some point in your life. What the author, Paul, means by this is that when go through life there will always be ups and downs, but you have a choice to be content.
You can either choose to go through hard circumstances knowing God is with you and being content in Him, or you can struggle and go through it without God as your hope and strength.
I’ll give you a practical example from my life. I was never one who enjoyed going to school. Freshman year of high school, or probably even from grades before then, I was wishing to be a senior so to be done with high school. Do you know what that did? It made my experience a bit more dreadful as I went into each year. Yet when senior year came, I had so much growth, enjoying such a great year and friend group, that I wished it wasn’t over! I quickly realized that all the things I was wishing for still happened but not any sooner. It was only God’s timing and plan that came forth. Therefore, operating out of my frustrations during each stage didn’t help one bit. All the times I wished for what was next, or for another season instead of the one I was in, led me to not fully enjoy where I was. Matthew 6:27 asks the question that is so humbling, “and which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?” You cannot change anything, or make anything happen any faster, by being anxious. Even if it is the good kind of anxious due to anticipation, it still can be something that distracts you or blinds you from the blessing you are living in each day. Furthermore, I want to bring attention to the way the enemy will try to distract you with wanting something you don’t have to prevent you from enjoying everything you do have. The enemy wants to steal any gratitude and joy you have for all God has given you presently. This also causes you to miss all that God is doing now. So, I want to encourage you to not make the same mistake I did but to have patience while trusting in God’s perfect and intentional timing! Lamentations 3:25-26 encourages us by saying, “the LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” This is your reminder to stay present in the season you are in. In addition, draw strength from God and operate out of patience, so that you can learn what He is trying to teach you. Focus on what God is doing and how He is making you into who you’re meant to be, while preparing you for all that’s to come!
