“To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.”

— Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

Spring turned into summer, and summer has turned into fall. I’m not completely sure how it all happened so fast. Time does fly.

I sit staring out the balcony window as leaves flutter from the trees in bright hues of gold, orange, and red. The temperature is 68 degrees (today’s high), and it will be followed by a low of 43 degrees tonight. I don’t know what your dream temperature is, but these days are like heaven to me. I would like for it to stay like this forever. But nothing in this life remains the same. It is ever changing––leaving us with the before and after.

I think it’s safe to say that we all have a before and after story. Before the illness, before the loss of a loved one, before watching a dream fade away, before the accident, and before *fill in the blank.* In my own life all these statements apply. Sadly, I too often focus on the before–reaching back to those moments–when God is penning a new story in the after.

Recently, I visited a new chiropractor after the pain in my back and the stiffness in my neck signaled that it may be time for a tune up to this middle-aged body. After a battery of tests and X-rays, the doctor sat me down for the results.

I tentatively listened as she, one by one, named all the things that were wrong with my body–curving of the spine, muscle weakness, misalignment, poor posture–all resulting in soreness, stiffness, and pain.

“This picture shows me that this is not something that occurred over night, but it has been taking place for ten to fifteen years,” she explained. I was too breathless to stop her. If I could have, I would have corrected her. It really has been going on for twenty years, but who’s counting? As she spoke excitedly about what could be done, and the fact that it could be done, with a regimen of rigorous therapy over the course of five months, I struggled to keep the tears from spilling from my eyes.

It was only moments before that I thought: Today, I’ll get an adjustment and my jaw pain will dissipate, along with the added benefit of back relief. I’ll be fine. Yet, after the meeting, I still had no real relief. Instead, I had a choice to make: –commit to rigorous therapy two times a week for several months or continue to regress into poor health.

Admittedly, the plan sounds promising, but in this season it’s just one more thing that’s wrong. One more thing to attend to. And I want to go back to the before–the days (albeit long ago now) when my health, my hardships, and my troubles were not all-consuming. Yet here I sit in the after and remember this scripture: “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.” And I ponder the possibility that God––yet again––is revealing Himself to me.

After a silent prayer asking Him to show me the lesson that He’s teaching, these truths come to mind:

Seasons change, but God remains the same. (Hebrews 13:8)

No matter the season, God is in control. (Daniel 2:21)

God will be with me in every season. (Matthew 28:20)

God will bring beauty from every season of pain. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

God’s love will endure forever. (Psalm 136)

I still don’t have the answers to exactly how this season will look nor the answers to solving the issues at hand, but I am trusting that God knows. I will hold to these promises as I take one step at a time. Sometimes living in the after is an ongoing process.

Friend, are you caught up in the before and after? Let me encourage you to remember that although seasons and circumstances change, God remains the same. His love endures forever. His compassion fails not. His grace abounds. We can trust Him to walk with us through whatever life throws our way––and when we cannot walk, He will carry us. He is bringing about a beautiful purpose through it all.

Prayer

Dear Father,

Sometimes changing seasons are overwhelming, and it’s difficult to see how You will bring about a good purpose from the hardships. Help me to trust that You are faithful, good, and kind. Give me faith to believe that You will bring about a beautiful ever-after for my life.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.