This Is Only a Season

Last Updated on April 26, 2018

As I get older, I realize more and more that this journey of faith is just that – a journey. Though I’m only 26, I became a Christian as a small child, so I’ve walked this path for some 20 years already.

I’m starting to realize that there truly are seasons of life, as well as seasons in my relationship with God.

In my first “season,” I had the “faith of a child” that Jesus talks about. I rightly believed every word He said, as well as every word from my parents’ mouths. This season was easy because there was little to counteract my faith. I lived in a Christian home, had Christian friends and went to a good church. It was good (and easy) to be a Christian.

My next “season” of faith was my teenage years. Becoming a teenager complicated things a little. Suddenly, all my “Christian” friends weren’t acting so “Christian.” Relationships in my life felt pulled and stretched to the point I feared they may pop. I struggled with temptations and talked with God daily, asking for both strength and forgiveness. He was always there and He was always faithful. And I came out a stronger person on the other side.

My college years were one of my favorite “seasons” yet. I got involved in an amazing campus ministry and was discipled by people passionately pursuing God. I had lengthy “quiet times,” was part of a biblical community, and watched as God did miraculous things. Sometimes I still pine for those days.

But now I’m in a different season. This season includes toddlerhood and sippy cups and diapers and potty training and tantrums and spilled milk and dirty laundry. It also includes better hugs and kisses than I ever dreamed possible and a heart that sometimes feels it may burst from joy.

It also, however, includes a marriage that feels stretched thin and a bank account that often sits on empty. And what it doesn’t include is anything close to a “lengthy” quiet time. (Hello quick devotional on my iPhone!)

Sometimes I wonder why things must be so difficult. I wonder why my kids won’t listen the first time, why we can’t seem to get ahead, and why spill-proof sippy cups still spill?!! I also wonder if my husband and I will ever be stress-free again like we were in our early years.

But then I remember that this is only a season.

[verse reference=”Ecclesiastes 3:1″]For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.[/verse]

And I remember that God has and will use every season of life for my good and for His glory. And mostly, I remember that through each season, He is faithful.