By: Ginger Hughes
“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.”
These words, found in the third chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, remind us of the seasonal nature of life. Things change. They grow, fall away, die, and are reborn.
We’re are indeed living in a very different and difficult season right now—a season we could never have imagined. A season where schools and churches are closed. A season of no ball games, no dance practice, and no vacations. A season of job loss, financial strain, and emotional stress. A season of sickness and for some, even death.
This season is challenging for our medical workers who are working diligently to help our communities. It’s challenging for parents who are trying to work from home while homeschooling our children. It’s hard for the elderly as they have to be so careful as they go out for groceries or other basic necessities. It’s difficult for all of us as we try to adjust to the myriad of changes we’ve experienced in such a short time.
However, it’s important to remember that while most everything in our life can change in a moment’s notice leaving us defeated, anxious, or afraid, there is one constant—God.
God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is unchangeable, unmovable, and unshakeable. While all we are accustomed to seems to be shaken right now, God remains. And if we know God through His Son Jesus, then we remain with Him.
This season is bringing with it trials like most of us have never witnessed. Yet, God remains on the throne.
This season is bringing challenges that most of us were not prepared to handle. Yet, God remains faithful.
This season is bringing tears of frustrations and sadness as we’ve lost the ability to see family and friends. Yet, God remains present.
And the only guarantee about seasons is this—they will change. So though things are difficult now, we have hope in tomorrow because we know and love a God of hope.
Just this week, as the kids and I played outside, my little boy began excitedly calling my name over and over. He was standing by a seemingly dead tree there in the front yard, all bark and branches. “Mama, Mama look!” he said again and again. I came closer straining to see why he was so thrilled. “Look Mama!” he said again, as I came close enough to see what his little finger was pointing out. It was a bud. A small bud. And there was more than one—there were several of them, just waiting to break forth.
And I firmly believe that after this season of uncertainty, suffering, and loss, there will also be new life just waiting to break forth. After all, we must not forget that Easter is near.
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In closing, I’d like to say thank you to Nurturing Faith, and specifically to Johnny Pierce, for this season in which he’s allowed my words to be a part of the Nurturing Faith online community as well as their printed publication. I’m grateful for the opportunity afforded to me to share my thoughts and faith with each of you, the Nurturing Faith readers. Though this will be my final piece for Nurturing Faith, I trust that the new season will bring new life to all of us, as we walk by faith and not by sight into tomorrow. May God bless and keep all of you, Ginger Hughes
-Ginger Hughes is the wife of a pastor, a mother of two and an accountant. She is a Georgia native currently living in the foothills of North Carolina. Her passion for writing is fueled by the desire to offer encouragement, grace and a deeper understanding that we are all God’s children. Her blogging for Nurturing Faith is sponsored by a gift from First Baptist Church of Gainesville, Ga. Additional writings may be found at nomamasperfect.com.
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Director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and former executive editor and publisher at Good Faith Media.
