Season of Purpose

I have undergone a lot of change in the last month. I started my senior year of high school, and with that comes the fun and excitement but also the sadness of knowing it's the last time. Then the fear and anxiety set in of the future and I begin to feel as though I’m walking onto a path enveloped in darkness. So bleak I don’t even know what the next step ahead of me looks like, and as I try to get ahead in college classes I see that I’m getting ahead of not knowing where I’m going. I’m overwhelmed and I’m scared.

Then I started a Bible study with a friend and we read through Ecclesiastes right as my world turned upside down. The third chapter set my heart at ease:

A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

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a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

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a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

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a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

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a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

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a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

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a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

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a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

There is a time and a season for everything we endure on this earth. There is also preparation involved in each season for the next. You may not see it now, but it all has a purpose. “God will never leave you or forsake you (Deuteronomy 3:16) and He walks with you every single step of the way. This gave me peace because although I don’t know what path lies ahead of me, I know God goes before me and behind me and with me. Nothing surprises Him, and I will rest knowing that the King of the world is holding onto me.

There is purpose in every single season and God will use it for good. Know that YOU are on purpose. Perhaps you were born for such a time as this (Esther 4:14)

Many times I question "why" I was placed in a certain situation or "why" I was chosen to work with someone that seems to be the most difficult person on earth, but this next week I challenge you to see the good. I challenge you to shift your perspective and instead ask "what purpose does this serve?" God is trying to teach you something through everything. I've been asking God to help me love others better, and almost immediately I was working directly with someone that challenged me to not only love on the lovable, but love on those that may be more hesitant. God loves everyone no matter what, so if I want to look more like Him then I have to do the same. There is purpose in this season!