Twenty-Eight Seasons and Quitting Isn’t One

It’s been over a year since I published my last post on my little corner of the internet here, yet I’ve opened my MacBook at least every other day with the primary purpose of sharing my heart.

The thing is, I’m not the same person I was one year ago and much of what I’ve drafted has just felt too heavy to publish. As I look at the screen before me, I could still focus on the negative, like much of what my drafts contain, but I just can’t. Because although it’s been a trying year filled with much change, God’s goodness is far too great for me to waste time on negativity.

His grace has been sufficient for each new day. So sufficient.

And while I’m not the same person I was one year ago, I’ve been caught up and consumed in my thoughts for too long. I’ve been a broken record, replaying my emotions to those closest to me on repeat just too many times.

It’s been a season. One I’m now choosing to put behind me and focus on the season ahead. We read in the Bible as Solomon describes the seasons far better than I ever could in Ecclesiastes. There are many seasons in life, yet never one that is new.

A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to get and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to rend and a time to sew. A time to keep silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time of war and a time of peace.

But there is never a time to quit.

And while I haven’t felt quite like quitting or giving up per se over the past year, many days I’ve felt discouraged. And that’s dangerous because discouragement is the enemy’s most commonly used tactic to make a Christian quit.

I’ve lived in seasons of discouragement over this past year, and I’ve experienced seasons of rejection this past year, and often, the two can also feel like depression.

But while Solomon reminds us of the seasons we’ll surely experience in Ecclesiastes, we can flip over several books later to 2 Corinthians chapter one, where Brother Paul encourages us that no season is ever for naught. He reminds us that although we may experience sufferings, comfort can be found through Christ.

But that isn’t all.

We continue reading in 2 Corinthians of the promise that because of the trials and the comfort found during our tribulations, we can use those seasons to encourage others and comfort others with the same comfort we, ourselves, have experienced through the Holy Spirit.

The beauty in that promise is there is never a season wasted.

Because it means that through the comforting power found in Jesus Christ, you will heal, no matter the hurt of the season.

You will heal, and you will recover.

And you will one day comfort others as the Holy Spirit has comforted you.

And while you may have been hurt, Ecclesiastes never described a season in which we should break the hammer and nails out and build the walls. You know, the barriers that automatically start to formulate around the heart, following a hurt. The walls that begin to structure as an automatic response to hurt. You can’t work to continue building them, but instead, tear them down and rip up the foundation. Because if you allow the walls. you may never be able to reach the very ones who need that comforting love of Jesus that you have to offer.

Someone will one day need to hear your story. The very story that God has penned for you to share for His glory, and if you fabricate that invisible wall around the architecture of your heart, you’ll never have an audience at your personal book reading of God’s faithfulness.

So while it’s been a year of learning for me, the greatest lesson I’ve taken away is that when you surrender every portion of your heart to ministry, the hurt will be inevitable. Heartache is, in fact, a risk that you take when ministering. But didn’t Jesus Himself experience just that when He took on the flesh of mortality and trod the dirt of this earth? Forsaken among His own people. He was rejected by those His physical heart held closest. Even after He had given almost all He had to sacrifice physically, He called out to God to intercede on behalf of the ones who had nailed Him to the cross. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

He never stopped giving. So as His hands and feet, how can we do any less? You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.

This past year has been one of learning, one of hurting, and one of change. It’s also been one of healing and one of experiencing that comforting power that can only be found through the ultimate Comforter.

So while I’ve sat down hundreds of times over the past year to write about the hurts that can accompany ministry, I can’t stop there. Because you will experience the inevitable hurt, but the healing is far greater. Because of the healing, you will be able to comfort others in a way as never before.

Don’t stop ministering. Don’t stop giving. And whatever you do, regardless of hurt, never stop loving. Because you may be the only Jesus some people ever encounter, how can they experience Him if you aren’t loving and loving unreservedly? Just as Jesus continued to do as He hung upon the cross.

He was persecuted, but His love was perfectly purposed.

Purpose to love like Jesus.

Because while you may experience hurt, you will also experience healing. And one day, because of Jesus, your story is going to be used for His glory.