Seasons. They come and go like the wind in the trees. The next one comes before we realize the beauty of the one we are in. There are seasons of my life that I can look back on and see God’s handprints in every single moment and detail. Ironically the times when I can see God so prevalent are also the times when I was the loneliest, felt the most scared, and filled with uncertain anxiety of what was to come. So what has brought me here today? Post Grad is hard, moving to a new city is hard and life in your 20s when sally is having a baby, Lucy is getting married and you are doing {seemingly} nothing, is HARD.

Although hard, God has revealed something to me in this season. Hard does not equal wrong, it doesn’t mean you aren’t good enough or your past decisions are now your mistakes, or whatever other lie the devil whispers into your thoughts. It means that God is doing something in you and for you. For me, hard means a deep dependence on the Lord as my comfort. It means learning more about myself and actively seeking how the Lord wants to use me in this season. In every season of my life that has caused more struggle than joy, I have found a greater knowledge and more intimate love for Christ on the other side of it.

Though my story is still unfolding, the greatest example I can think of good coming out of hard seasons is, Jesus. The season of Jesus’ life where he began his ministry and teaching through to his death on the cross was not glorious or easy. There was no white picket fence, stable income, good friends, fame, or fortune. He was hated, betrayed, hungry, tired, tempted, mocked, hunted down, and ultimately murdered. Yet, He is who we base our faith on. Who we build our lives on. His season of hard is our very source of wisdom and instruction today. The years before Jesus died on a cross to save the world from a life of sin and shame and condemnation, were the hardest years of his life. Yet, God used the pain and the suffering to carry out the greatest ministry of all time, save us from our sins, and give us a perfect and holy life to base ours upon. His hard is our salvation. His hard is our stronghold. His hard is our very reason to lean into our season of loneliness, sadness, or struggle.

So I don’t know what you are going through today, a breakup, prolonged singleness, maybe you are believing for a family, going through sorority recruitment, or maybe life is just. Hard. I want you to know hard is okay. But more importantly, I want you to lean into the hard. Seek the face of God, dive into the word like never before, and Wake up every day praising God for the season you are in and what He is going to do with it. Praise God for how He is going to grow you and sanctify you to glorify his kingdom. Yes, Hard seasons are uncomfortable, they don’t make for perfect Instagram pictures or movie-worthy video montages. But they draw us deeper into relationship with our heavenly father. Isn’t that what we are here for, isn’t that our deepest desire, isn’t that the object of the Christian faith in the process of sanctification? So why are we wishing away the seasons of pain when we know that the nearness and the tenderness of God is there? Like I said before, seasons come and go like the wind in the trees. Don’t let the seasons pass without seeing the fullness of God in each one.

You were made for a purpose and a season. You were made to grow the kingdom of heaven. You were made for such a time as this – Esther 4:14. May you see the Goodness of God in your season of hard.

Scriptures that inspired Bailee’s Thoughts:

“I am certain that I will see the Lord’s Goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord” – Psalm 27: 13-14.

“For He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in before Him.” – Ephesians 1:4

“For we are His workmanship. created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.” – Ephesians 2:10.