In this life we are constantly faced with ever changing seasons. I don’t mean with the weather, but more with the way our lives unfold daily. There are good seasons and bad seasons. Each one can bring or take away people in our lives. We experience emotions from happiness to sadness, loneliness to feeling loved by everyone, and etc. With each one God uses them to mold and make us who He intends us to be. He has a purpose for every season in our lives and He makes everything suitable for its time. That includes the good, the bad, and the ugly. I know with my own personal experience the good sometimes seems fewer and farther between than the bad and the ugly. So why is that? Why are the harder seasons of life the ones that seem to dominate?

One thing we need to remember is that God knows!!!!!

He knows when we are frustrated.

He knows when we feel broken and alone.

He knows when we feel like failures.

He knows our losses and the heartaches they bring.

He knows when our hopes and dreams are gone.

He knows our fears and doubts.

He knows when we are just sick and tired of it all.

HE KNOWS ALL OF IT!!!! And most importantly He cares!!

As I said before, He uses each season to mold and make us who He intends for us to be. He allows each one at the right time. God’s plans for us work best during these times in our lives. In our weakness He is strong.

“My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever.” Psalm 73:26

When we are in a season of goodness I feel it is sometimes easy to forget just how much we depend on God. We can even become prideful and arrogant in our accomplishments and status. We may even have times where we do a tad bit of boasting. So God allows us to experience these harder seasons to keep us humble. To remind us that we can do nothing without Him. These seasons draw us closer to Him and His good and perfect will and in turn it brings Him the glory for others to see. This is what He designed us for!!!

In 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks of being caught up to a paradise and receiving wonderful revelations from God. He then goes on to speak of God allowing a thorn in his flesh. 2 Corinthians 12:7 Paul says, “even though I have received such a wonderful revelation from God, so to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.”

In verses 8 and 9 Paul says, “Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time He (The Lord) said, My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” Paul is then glad to boast instead about his weaknesses, to allow the power of Christ to work through him.

We need to remember that these thorns in our flesh that can cause us suffering are intended to remind us that God is our strength. We can take pleasure when we suffer for Christ knowing that in each weakness He makes us strong. It is never from our own abilities but God’s. When we are delivered from the hard times and we live out our faith by trusting in the Father, others see this. We become examples of our faith and bring glory to the Father above. Then we can boast about our good God who meets us right where we are with His strength and power.