What Season Is It?
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)
Life comes in seasons. Some are filled with joy, laughter, and answered prayers. Others bring uncertainty, disappointment, loss, or waiting. We gladly thank God during the good seasons, but trusting Him can become much harder when life doesn’t make sense.
Yet God never promised that every season would be easy. He promised something far greater—that He would be with us through every season!
There are times when God allows us to walk through circumstances we don’t understand. We pray, but the answer doesn’t seem to come. We make plans, only to watch them change. We may even wonder, “God, what are You doing?”
It is during those moments that faith becomes more than simply believing that God exists. Faith becomes trusting His heart when we cannot see His plan.
Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us:
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Notice that God doesn’t tell us we have to understand everything. He tells us to trust Him.
The season you are in today is not the whole story. God can use seasons of waiting to strengthen your faith, seasons of difficulty to draw you closer to Him, and seasons of blessing to remind you of His goodness.
In my last post I share part of my testimony of how I felt God dealt with my circumstances back in 2021. This is the “part two” of my journey.
Praying for a Miracle
It is natural for us to pray for a miraculous solution to the problems and challenges in our lives. Being raised in the faith, I have heard of numbers testimonies of people healed completely and I certainly don’t doubt those testaments. And don’t get me wrong! When I went through my cancer diagnosis, I often prayed and envisioned what it would be like if while on that operating table the doctors all of a sudden could not find any trace of cancer that they certainly knew existed. And what a testimony that would be, not only in my life, but the people around me as well. And that’s what I prayed for! I shared in my last post of how I felt God’s hand was with me throughout that ordeal and I cling onto that today!
Fast forward to November, 2024. A normal Tuesday morning all of a sudden turned into a two week ordeal in the ICU at Memorial Hermann hospital. I had a stroke, and before I even knew what was happening, I believe God was already working. For one thing, if Darla would not have been home, I would have probably, just like any other man, tried to lay down and think that maybe it would just go away. Turns out, she called for an ambulance and my journey began!
I will not bore you with all of the details of those two weeks, but I had pastors, visitors and even nurses pray beside my bed. In fact, I think I was asking every medical personnel that walked in my room or tended to me if they were a believer! A lot of things happened in my room during my stay that I could share as having the hand of God on my life.
My Frustration!
One thing the doctors were looking to do is insert a stent in my artery. However, every time they scheduled this procedure, something come up that they were not comfortable doing at the time and so there I laid for a few more days until that were to schedule again. Every morning around 5 am they would roll me down for a CT scan to see what was happening. In the meantime I was on what they called “salt bombs” to reduce fluid on my brain or whatever was happening. I am not lying when I tell you that I swoll up so bad I looked like an inflatable balloon walking down the hall! I was so frustrated for every delay in getting that stent put in. It was a long two weeks and I will say I was not in a comfortable position!
Fast forward to the date of the appointment, roughly a few weeks later after they had discharged me from that hospital. Again I arrived at the hospital and I lay in a prep room waiting for the doctor to perform this procedure. Yes, I had my wife, brother and my sister there praying by my bedside. I even had the nurse prepping me for the surgery pray her little Catholic prayer by my bedside! Then off I went. And here is where looking back I believe God’s hand was on my life!
Even through all of the frustration of putting this procedure off so many times, and not enjoying this at ALL, with all of the prayers, I felt whatever happens it will be alright! Of course, like I mentioned, it is natural when we pray for things in our lives, we pray for a miracle. I even thought how cool it would be if once that Doc got inside that he would be amazed and find my arteries like brand new! No blockage and the news would spread through that operating room. Would have been really cool! But no, that did not happen! The next thing I know, I am waking up to the doctor’s voice speaking with my wife. All I could hear was something about not having to do a stent because that vein, ir whatever it was, completely closed up and so therefore they did not need the stent and there was blood flowing through other areas to my brain! My family was praying that a stent wouldn’t be needed. No, the vein was not open like brand new, but this is what I feel when I say with God, all things work together for good!
Those three times I was delayed in the hospital from having this procedure done, I believe that was the hand of God delaying and giving that artery time to close on its own. Of course, I do not know all of the mysteries of God. And I do not know for sure this is what was happening! I do know however that I believe in a God that it is with us in all seasons! Yes, Jesus miraculously healed physical needs while He was here on earth to express God’s glory and power. However, people in those ages died too. I believe God still moves in our day and time and I believe he walked me through this time of my life! Don’t get me wrong though, I’d prefer not to go through that again, but it did make me thing of the greatness of God. Even down to the medical team I had! I believe God is so big and all-knowing, that in His infinite wisdom, he saw me coming through that hospital that day and even bigger, knew when these doctors and nurses were even born, he knew they would be the ones that cared for me! YES, I believe that is how BIG our God is!!! There are other things that came together while I had my little vacation in the hospital. From the nurses, the doctors and even the head nurses. Looking back, I can only see God’s had on my life!!
So, whatever season you find yourself in today, remember this: seasons change, but God does not!
He was faithful yesterday.
He is faithful today.
And He will still be faithful tomorrow.
So when you don’t understand the season, trust the One who does!
This Is My Prayer
Father, thank You for being faithful in every season of my life. When life is good, help me remember that every blessing comes from You. When life is difficult and I cannot understand what You are doing, help me trust You anyway. Give me faith to believe that You are working even when I cannot see it. Help me remember that this season is only one part of the story You are writing in my life. I place my plans, my worries, and my future in Your hands. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Today’s Thought:
I may not understand the season I’m in, but I can trust the God who is leading me through it. For my family, I pray for you EVERYDAY! Listen to Dr Tony Even’s for some encouraging words…