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“He will cover you with His pinions (wings), and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.” Psalm 91:4 (ESV)

Where did the Summer go? Those are always the words echoing from my lips after Labor Day. I’m a warm weather, sunshiny day girl.  Beaches and anywhere outside are my fave places to be.  And despite the humid, extremely hot weather we had this Summer, I’m dreading the brink of chill that will arrive in a few weeks.

Regardless of whether we love hot or cold weather, despite our longing for snow or sunny beaches; we know the weather in Virginia will change with the season.   That’s one reason so many people love living here.  We get to experience it all.

Navigating our journey on this earth, we will experience lots of transitional seasons.  Seems like yesterday, we were grabbing our backpacks and heading out the door to catch the bus.  Blink and we find ourselves graduating from high school and then college. Flip the calendar and now we are the adults lining up our children for those “first day of school” pictures.  And before we even realize it, we’re the cheering grandparents in the stands at the local football game.

Life on earth is brief….a quick journey with thousands of transitions.  Each one ushering in its own unique lessons.  Birthdays, graduations, weddings and career accomplishments – glorious celebrations.  Seasons of life we love and enjoy.  But rarely do we envision the hard transitional spaces – places we never dreamed would be ours.

Just like the final leaf drifting from bare branches, our vulnerable self is fully on display when we find ourselves in desperate places.  The diagnosis we dreaded.  The loss of a loved one.  The emptying of our financial resources.  The exhaustion of caring for a family member.  The aching heart for our prodigal.  The haunting awareness of personal or spiritual failure.

Transitions and seasons we navigate in life could easily steal our breath away and silence our voice.  But God.  Yes that phrase, but God, reminds us who we belong to. It champions who is on our side.  We have never lived a day or experienced a second unknown to our God. Before we took our first breath, God saw us. While we were being formed in the womb of our sweet Moms, God fashioned every single day of our lives (Psalm 139:16).

So sweet friends when those hard seasons arrive, we can find strength and courage in the heart of our Creator.  The one who formed us will never leave or forsake us.  Even in the burst of ugliness spewing from our lips, overcome with sorrows birthed in hard places, our God is greater than our emotions. His love is inexhaustible.  He is wiser than our best laid plans. He is all sufficient to pick us up and carry us until we can once again stand.  God will see us through each step of those seasons and shine His greatest glory when we least expect it.

Love this reminder from Charles Spurgeon: “Nothing teaches us about the preciousness of our Creator as much as when we learn the emptiness of everything else.”  Oh how sweet to trust in our Creator – to call upon His Name in the darkest of our nights. To know beyond a shadow of a doubt, we are never out of His sight.

“Father, You are the only One who knows our every thought and loves us still.  You meet us where we are and teach us valuable lessons in every season.  Thank You for never giving up on us, even when give up on You.”

For His Glory

Janet Martin
TRBC Women’s Life