Finding Beauty in the Season You're In (even when it's a hard one)

Autumn has arrived, bringing with it crisp air, falling leafs, cozy sweaters, and pumpkin spice everything.

And I’m quiet happy about that. Fall has always been my favorite season.

Just as the year has seasons, so do our lives. Sometimes we feel like we’re in a Winter, with everything asleep, or in a Spring, full of growth and newness, or in a Summer, bright with adventure, or in a Fall, changing and letting go.

Yes, life has seasons. Some are wonderful and fun and exciting. Some are hard and heartbreaking. And when we’re in that hard season, it’s so easy to feel discouraged. It arrives, slowly or suddenly, and we’re not at all happy about that.

Rather, we’re feeling confused, frustrated, afraid, sorrowful, worried, even angry.

Can I be honest with you? 

In my adult years, I’ve struggled a lot with discontentment with the seasons I’ve found myself in. Much of this time has seemed to be a time of waiting. Waiting on God for direction and answers. Waiting while dreams have yet to be fulfilled. And the waiting can leave me discouraged. I can so easily begin to wish away this season, wishing I were in a different season.

God has used this time to teach me a lot about finding my joy and contentment in Jesus, and only Jesus. In the wait, I’m learning to trust. When I open my eyes, I begin to see the beauty and the good, even in the hard and heartbreak. 

But still, such seasons can be hard. In the daily struggle, our life can feel less-than beautiful. When the tears fill our eyes, it can be hard to see.

And maybe right now, you find yourself in a hard season, with tears in your eyes. Maybe you’re feeling discouraged and discontent with this season of your life. Maybe it’s a season of waiting, or maybe you’ve experienced some heartbreak and loss, or maybe you’re just not where you want to be right now; the plans, hopes, and dreams you have aren’t happening.

There is a passage in Ecclesiastes that I have found to be such an encouragement for when we’re going through those hard seasons

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, NLT

Ecclesiastes was written by a king named Solomon. Solomon was famed for his wisdom, and he also had great wealth. You could say he lacked nothing. But in Ecclesiastes 1:2, King Solomon writes “Everything is meaningless.” 

Wisdom, success, wealth, popularity, pleasures, are meaningless. They are not where our purpose and happiness lie. In the end, the only thing that matters is Jesus. He is the one who brings meaning, purpose, and beauty to our lives, even when we’re in a hard season of life. 

This passage from Ecclesiastes 3 is one I’ve heard many times. But it’s often not what I want to hear. I don’t want to hear that their will be times of grief, crying, tearing down, war. I don’t want to hear that there will be hard seasons in life.

But this is what Ecclesiastes 3:11 says:

“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11, NLT

Even in those hard seasons, God is making beauty. God can restore even the most broken. God can make new even the most bruised. God can redeem even the most lost. Romans 8:28 says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him.” (NIV)

All things. Not some things. Not most things. All things. 

In all seasons, God is working for our good and for His glory, and we can rest in that. We can know that He hears our cries and sees our struggles and that He is right there holding us and helping us. We can know that He will us this time to teach us and grow us and strengthen us and draw us closer to His heart.

This time of waiting can be beautiful. This season that I find myself in can have purpose and joy.

The discouragement, the sorrow, the frustration, the hurt we experience here on earth doesn’t have to define us or our lives. The daily struggle isn’t our destiny, for we are victorious in Christ. Because God works good in all things, in all things we are more than conquerers through Him who loves us. (Romans 8:37) 

All things. Not some things. Not most things. All things. 

So how do we find the beauty that God is making? How do we see the good that God is working? How do we live victorious even in the daily struggle?

Focus on Jesus, not on the flaws and failings in your life.

Celebrate the beauty, the good, the victories, no matter how small.

Stop comparing your season to another’s.

Cling to God’s Word, the light for your path, the truth that trumps all emotions.

Pray through it all, and praise through it all.

Take care of yourself; don’t neglect what’s good for your health for a temporary feel-good.

Love, encourage, and serve others, being a reflection of Jesus, bringing His beauty to this broken world.