What This Season Is Revealing
There are seasons of life where the Lord teaches you through circumstances, and then there are seasons where He seems to continually bring you back to the same simple truths.
This summer, I’ve been learning that life with Jesus is not nearly as complicated as I often make it.
It is trusting Him. Receiving what He gives. Releasing what He withholds. Being faithful with what He has placed in front of me. And, above all, fixing my eyes on Jesus.
So, here are a few things the Lord has been reminding me of this summer!
He Is a Good Father
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights."" James 1:17
I’ve had to remind myself of this again and again: God is a good Father.
He loves me more deeply than I will ever understand. He sees what I cannot see. He knows what I need before I ask. He protects, provides, leads, and withholds according to His perfect wisdom.
So when something hasn't been given, I don't have to assume God has forgotten me.
If every good and perfect gift comes from Him, then I can trust that what He has not given me is not something I need to chase down outside of His will. If God didn’t give me that thing, then maybe it wasn’t good and perfect!
As the previous verse in James exclaims,
"Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers." James 1:16
God is good—even when His goodness looks different than what I expected. Do not let the enemy lie to you. Our God is a good Father, perfect in timing, abundant in grace, and always on time in perfect and good gifts.
Start With a Grateful Heart
It is so easy to fixate on what we are still waiting for. But this summer, the Lord has been teaching me to look at what is already in front of me.
Answered prayers. Open doors. People I love. Opportunities I once asked God for. Daily provision. And, ultimately, the greatest gift I will ever receive: salvation through Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 12:28 reminds us that we are receiving “a kingdom that cannot be shaken.”
"Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe," Hebrews 12:28
How could I not be grateful?
Gratitude changes the way we see our current circumstances. Instead of constantly asking, “What am I still waiting for?” we can stop and say, “Lord, look at everything You have already done.”
There is so much to thank Him for, so many opportunities to steward, so many relationships to foster, and so much of God’s character to stand in awe of.
No Is Still an Answer
We praise God for the “yes.”
We celebrate the open doors, the answered prayers, the opportunities that work out exactly as we hoped they would.
But I’m learning that “no” is also an answer worth rejoicing in!
If God is truly a good Father, then His closed doors are not evidence of His absence. They can be evidence of His protection, and in fact His leading.
"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." Proverbs 16:9
We may plan the steps and what we want, but ultimately God is the establishing our steps. And every no or closed door is the Lord being faithful to that promise.
Sometimes His “no” is protecting us from something we cannot yet see. Sometimes it is redirecting us toward something better. Sometimes it is simply His invitation to trust Him without understanding!
A closed door does not mean God has stopped being good. It means I can trust the One who knows what is on the other side, and rejoice in the provision of God’s leading.
There Is a Time for Everything
Ecclesiastes reminds us that there is a season for everything.
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven" Ecclesiastes 3:1
That sounds simple, but I’ve realized how often I try to rush through the season I’m in to get to the one I think is next.
The Lord has been teaching me to take joy in where I am right now!
This season will inevitably change. The things that fill my days now will look different someday. The opportunities in front of me will shift. Responsibilities will change. Prayers will be answered. New ones will be prayed.
James 5 paints a beautiful picture of waiting for the precious harvest of the earth. There is work to be done while we wait, but there is also a harvest that cannot be rushed.
"Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains." James 5:7
So I want to be faithful in the season I’m actually in—not constantly living in anticipation of the next one.
Steward What Is in Front of You
That leads me to one of the biggest lessons of this summer: stewardship.
I’ve felt the Lord reminding me, Go all in.
Not in the sense of striving or trying to control the outcome, but in the sense of faithfully stewarding the blessings He has already placed in front of me.
Some of the things I am holding now were once things I prayed for.
So why would I spend all my energy worrying about what comes next instead of being faithful with what God has already entrusted to me?
My time. My work. My relationships. My opportunities. My creativity. My current season.
The invitation is to be focused and fixated on Jesus, faithfully stewarding what He has given me today rather than becoming consumed with what tomorrow might hold.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2
Prayer Is Simple
I think I have a tendency to make prayer more complicated than it needs to be.
But prayer is simply talking to God.
Cast your cares on Him. Ask Him for what you need. Thank Him. Praise Him. Tell Him what you're afraid of. Bring Him the little things and the big things.
Prayer is not a production.
It doesn't have to be a perfectly written script or an impressive spiritual performance. It is communion with the living God!
"Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8
The God who created everything invites us to talk to Him. That alone should leave us in awe and eager to draw near to Him in reckless abandon.
God Is Greater Than My To-Do List
And perhaps this is where all of these lessons come together.
I can be grateful for what God has given me. I can trust Him with what He has withheld. I can receive my current season. I can steward my time faithfully. I can bring everything to Him in prayer.
And then I have to remember:
God is greater than my to-do list.
“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Psalm 127:1
How easy it is to confuse productivity with purpose. To believe that if I just accomplish enough, work hard enough, create enough, plan enough, or check enough things off the list, then I will finally feel like I have done enough.
But my worth was never found in what I could accomplish!
I think of Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus and choosing the one thing that could not be taken away.
There will always be another task. Another email. Another project. Another goal. Another thing that needs to be done.
But Jesus is still the better portion.
A dear friend shared a really good quote to me, that is now going to be a daily reminder.
“Don’t focus on the to-do list. Focus on what God has already done.”
So this summer, I am learning to work—but not worship my work.
To steward—but not strive.
To pray—but not perform.
To wait—but not worry.
To receive “yes”—and trust Him with “no.”
To be grateful for what is here instead of consumed by what is not.
And through all of it, to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus!
I pray you have found nearness in Christ as much as I have this summer. It has been a busy few months, but some of my favorite moments have been sitting in stillness before the throne room of grace.
I am so excited and expectant for the fall and all God has in store for Reverent Awe. As always, let us know how this encouraged you and how we can be praying for you.