For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

Ecclesiastes 3:1

One of the greatest gifts of growing older is the gift of perspective. When I experienced the first hard season in my life, I thought it would last forever. I assumed life was always going to be hard, scary, and uncertain. Then the season lifted. Several years (or months) later, another challenge arose, and I assumed this was our new normal. Until it wasn’t. Relief came, and the situation eased.

This cycle has continued for almost sixty years. Times of ease have followed times of trial. Times of plenty have followed times of need. Times of peace have followed times of conflict. Watching these seasons come and go has taught me that the quiet seasons are gifts from God, and the hard seasons won’t last forever. This perspective has helped me embrace the good and weather the bad with hope, faith, and courage.

Lori Hatcher
Lexington, SC

Father, give me the courage I need to embrace all of life’s seasons. Amen.

Reflect: Consider how seasons come and go in your life. Thank God for his faithfulness.

Read: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 and Deuteronomy 31:6