I recently received a text from a friend asking, “Have you ever been in a season where you look at your whole life and wonder when does the struggle end?  When does the good stuff start to happen?”  It’s a relatable question, especially as I’m walking through my own difficult season.  Life can sometimes feel like walking from one battlefront to another; one tragedy to another; one disappointment to another, with hardly a respite in-between.  

I wanted to give my friend a response that would acknowledge his feelings, yet at the same time pull him up out of what seemed like a pit of despair.  The last thing I want to be for him is one of Job’s friends.  You know, the sort of friend who basically tells you to look on the bright side, or you should just cheer up and declare your way out of what you’re feeling.  While well-meaning, those sorts of responses tend to diminish the feelings of a person and miss an opportunity for meaningful connection.  

My initial response was, “Lord, what do you want me to say?”  Surprisingly, or perhaps not, He didn’t give me a direct answer.  His response was, “What have you been learning?”  Now, having been in a season where I’ve felt like I’ve been walking around with my chest open while God’s been doing open-heart surgery on me, as well as being faced with multiple hard circumstances at the same time, I realized that God was offering me an opportunity to both encourage my friend, as well as look back and remember what He’s been teaching me in this season.  

Below is a portion of the text that I sent my friend.  I hope it speaks to you in the season that you’re in like it did to me, and as it did to my friend:

“I’d like to share the smallest bit of what I'm learning in my own hard season: find Jesus in everything.  Find out where he is, what he's saying, what he's not saying, what he's doing, and what he's not doing.  Sometimes, he's just quiet and sits with you.  Sometimes, he speaks softly, sometimes loudly.  The reality is that we can get so caught up in the weight of things that we forget the eternal perspective that He's forging something in us that will last for eternity.  The lessons we learn, the intimacy with Him that we develop, and the character that is forged in the fire of life is what will last for eternity.  And though it may seem cold hearted in the moment, when we look at things from the perspective of eternity, it's really just a blip, and it will all be worth it.”  

Remember this above everything: he's with you in every single moment.  Find him there.  Even when it's hard and when it seems like he's distant, he's never far.  If he sounds like a whisper, he's just one step away.  He’s not the sort to shout in your ear and deafen you.  He’s the kindest, most loyal, most faithful, most loving person you’ll ever meet.  My prayer for you is that whatever season you’re in you find where Jesus is in every moment.

Photo by Torsten Dederichs on Unsplash