ByGrace

I’ve finally come to what will be my last post on the seasons of life. I have thoroughly enjoyed studying this out a bit, especially this last part where I’ve found verses that are helpful in “renewing my mind” to bring my thoughts more into line with Christ’s thoughts. And isn’t that what Bible study is supposed to do? This last post is somewhat of a practical one; my intent is to give you some concrete, tangible ways by which to live in the season you’re in. Lots and lots of you may have no problem with discontentment or dissatisfaction, but maybe there’s someone who just needs a little encouragement to settle in and enjoy where your life is today – not yesterday or tomorrow. Plus, I’ll probably need to come back to this myself someday. Just because I can dish out advice doesn’t mean I’m immune to needing it myself! The first thing we need to realize is how much God dislikes complaining. The Israelites got into trouble for this so many times! The word used in the Bible most of...

This subject has me fascinated! LOL It seems like everywhere I turn, I'm reading something that can apply to being happy in the season of life that we are in. Naturally, the first place we look for guidance is the Bible, God's handbook for life. God gave us several examples of both contentment and murmuring. One of my favorite Bible characters is Ruth. She is the perfect example of being content in her seasons of life. She was content to be married to Naomi's son. She was content to stay with Naomi. She was content to work in Boaz' field. She was content to obey Naomi and seek out Boaz as her kinsman-redeemer. I can't recall any instance of Ruth complaining about her seasons of life! And look what happened to her! She became the great-grandmother of Israel's greatest king, and was one of several Gentile women included in the lineage of the Messiah! Mary was content with her season of life, wasn't she? When the angel told her that she would have a...

I've run into quite a few articles and book chapters lately about seasons in life. Just as the year has seasons, so do our lives. Right now, my season is mothering teens. I can well remember the season of my own teenage years, then my seasons of working, newly married, mother of small children, and mother of elementary-aged children. There are seasons within seasons; for example, we traveled for 2 1/2 years raising support to come to Canada and start a church. That was a season of my life - it only lasted a certain amount of time, and it's now over (hopefully not to be repeated in the near future!). Right now our season is pastoring a small church; a lot of the work falls to us. It's tiring and sometimes discouraging, but this is our season of life. We'll enter a new season eventually, and we'll look back on this one with fond memories of our little church. Several years ago, I had a friend who would IM me occasionally. She lived far away from me; we didn...

I think God does care about the little things! He just proved it to me once again this morning! I had an appointment for a procedure that's a follow-up to my checkup a couple of weeks ago. When I got there, I found that it was going to cost me a dollar to park for up to 2 hours. I only had 50 cents. I drove out of the parking lot onto the street where there were parking meters. I parked and put in my 50 cents . . . which gave me a whole 30 minutes! LOL I said, "Lord, here's my 50 cents. If the time runs out, you're going to have to take care of it!" When I stepped into the office, my heart sank! It was packed. I began praying again, because I didn't want to have to come home and hand Wes a parking ticket. Within 15 minutes my name was called. The procedure itself doesn't take long, so within another 10 minutes or so I was on my way out the door. I checked the meter before I got in the car - 4 minutes left! Yes, He cares!