God wants us to understand that there are seasons to life. If you’re going through a setback, you need, above all, to put that setback in context. To know that you’re not alone and that this sense of failure should not define you.
God’s timing can be so hard to understand. We get exhausted in the short-term. We feel bone-weary. We have no reserves left. And yet there’s no space for resting. It feels thankless, but God tells us, “Hang in there, it will be worth it.”
2. You Have a Bright Future
Not only is the present difficult time just a season, but in comparison, the future looks really good. It’s something worth fighting for. The short-term weariness needs to be placed in the context of the long-term rewards you’ll reap.
Often when we are discouraged, the valley we are in can look monumental. We need to know that there are mountains on the other side and that they are worth the valley experience. Seeing how bright the future is gives us the encouragement we need to push through.
3. Long-Term Fruit Requires Perseverance
Many of the best things in life have a big price tag attached to them. Fruit comes after planting, watering and harvesting.
Years after my experience, the Lord spoke to me and said, “You know that hard time where you were tempted to quit? That was your internship. It was just practice for the future. If you hadn’t been asked to leave your job, you wouldn’t have graduated from the internship. You might still be there.”
What a profound realization! Once I got out of the victim mentality and saw that the pain of rejection was misplaced, things made sense. And through it all God was saying to me, “Your life is not about meeting your own needs—there’s more to life than that. Trust me.”
God made us to help others, and yes, it can be costly. People disappoint us—we should expect them to. We must remember that the good things in life require character. You have to keep showing up over time.
We all need to know that we are working for a long-term purpose that may not take shape this year or the next. There is wonderful fruit in your future. But you will only understand its real value over time as you pay the price it requires.
Let me ask you, my reader, to pause and reflect a second. Where are you in life? Are you feeling underappreciated? Wondering about that call of God you thought you had?
It is a precious thing. It requires grit and commitment to see the fruit that God wants to give you. The world is waiting. You play to an audience of one. Don’t confuse setbacks and the weariness they produce with God’s long-term call.
He is whispering to you, “Don’t grow weary, for in due season you will reap.”
