How Should I View My Season of Life?
There have been numerous times when I have viewed my current season of life as a love-hate relationship.
I am twenty-one and single and have a constant aim to spend my time and availability to serve the church and deepen my relationship with God and others. Singleness is a gift and the joy of freedom is evident. However, there have been many times when the pang of discontentment is present. I want to fall in love and get married and have kids.
Scripture dictates that this is a healthy desire but even good things can be constructed as idols.
Each of us has been called to a season created specifically for us. Whether you are a college student, work a 9-5 job, or a mom of three you can use your life’s circumstances for the glory of God. No matter what season of life you are in, no matter how full it may be, you will have challenges. While the single has a free schedule she feels alone at times. While the career woman is making a constant income she may get burned out. While the young mom loves her kids, the training can become exhausting.
How to Look Towards the Future
I do not believe it is necessarily wrong to wait longingly for the future. Longing for the next thing is a healthy part of life. God has hardwired us to live a life that is productive and has created distinct seasons that change throughout our lifetime.
More than likely you may go through a season of school, work, marriage, parenthood, empty nesting, and becoming a grandparent. Many go through these seasons and look forward to the next stage with expectation. This is healthy and how things are intended to be. However, is it possible to long for the future in an unhealthy way? Absolutely!
Jim Elliot writes, “Let not our longing slay the appetite of our living.” [i]
Yes, I want to be married and have a family but I cannot let those desires suffocate what I am called to do today.I want my whole heart and mind to be fully present where I am called to be.
Do in the present and pray for the future. Pray that you will use today’s responsibilities for his glory and that you surrender future desires into his hands.
Have excitement for the future but do not drain your heart into it. God has given you today and today is a miraculous gift.
“Have excitement for the future but do not drain your heart into it. God has given you today and today is a miraculous gift.”
How to Live In the Present
So how do you fully live in your present season of life?
A question you can ask God daily is just, “What do you have for me today?” Whether it is enduring through your classes, interacting with your coworkers, or cleaning up Cheerios, God has already planned today before your own existence.
Part of being a productive human consists of completing tasks and becoming familiar with your calendar but God can oftentimes throw surprises into the mix. Today is not your day. The Creator who allowed the sun to rise and you to rise with it has authority above all things—including you.
“Today is not your day. The Creator who allowed the sun to rise and you to rise with it has authority above all things—including you.”
Elisabeth Elliot quoted this poem, “Fear not tomorrows, child of the King, trust them with Jesus. DO THE NEXT THING.” [ii]
Do the next thing. Have plans but submit your plans and your season of life under God’s overarching care. Instead of looking forward to the future, maintain the responsibilities assigned to you today. Make much of the season by living full, glory-filled days under God’s power. Be faithful in the little and the much. God may very well be training you in the season you are in today to equip you for seasons in the future.
The days of learning grammar and vocabulary in school, no matter how much I grew tired of it, equipped me for the work I do daily. That is just one example of how God uses the mundane, unwanted tasks for my future good.
The loving Lord has you cupped in the palm of his sovereign hand. He will get you through today and preserve you for tomorrow if he wills. He will be your strength in the next seasons ahead until glory.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6)
Action:
Help others who are in a different season of life than you are in. You have things to offer that others can’t.
College or working student, maybe you can contact the single mom you know and volunteer to watch her kids. Or, look at what ministries you could plug into at your church. If you have a relatively free schedule that means you have the opportunity to spend your time in valuable, unique ways.
If you have a family, maybe you can make meals for others who are going through a challenging time. Maybe you and your spouse can have a young adult group come to your house on Sunday afternoons.
Sometimes, due to your season of life, the thought of adding more to your responsibilities seems impossible. If that is the case then rest. There will be times in your life when you cannot be as plugged in as others. That is okay. Look at the responsibilities God has given you and serve in those areas.
Pray for others, send an encouraging note to someone, pencil in time for a phone call. These several things are massive ways you can serve even when you are tied down with other things in your season of life.
Each season is a gift and each season can be lived for the glory of God.
I would love to hear from you! Please email me at alannahbryantwrites@gmail.com:)
[i] Elisabeth Elliot, Let Me Be a Woman (Tyndale, 1976), p. 33
[ii] author unknown, quoted by Elisabeth Elliot
