A Purpose in Every Season

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. -Ecclesiastes 3:1

Spring is right around the corner with the promise of new life and warm weather. Soon, we will tell winter goodbye and say hello to the new season. But for now, it seems as if we are simply suspended between the two – spring is tugging at us, but winter is not quite ready to let go. So we wake up each morning – unsure if we should grab our coat or our rain boots – waiting for the world to make up its mind.

Similarly, the seasons of life do not always flow smoothly from one day to the next. We understand the necessity, even the purpose of most seasons. After all, there must be a time to laugh and a time to cry. We need times to plant as well as to harvest. Sometimes we must speak and sometimes we must remain silent. And we even understand that we must have times of life and times of death. But there is one season that often leaves us feeling confused – the season of waiting.

Times of transition between seasons of my life leave me feeling purposeless. It’s as if I am hanging suspended in midair, longing to take the leap to the next step, but being held back by something. It is not that I do not want to take that step, but I am unable to. This spot is where I find myself today. I am in time of waiting in my life. I am praying for the will of God, seeking His direction; and mostly, I am waiting. And I feel as if I am spinning, spinning, spinning – and getting no where. I feel the Lord moving in me. I know He is stirring things in my heart and yet I am still waiting.

But the Lord directed my heart to this passage in Ecclesiastes today and one word jumped out at me – purpose. You see, the Lord does nothing without purpose. It is not that He is lazy or forgetful and simply has not put in the effort to move me past this season yet. No, if I am in a season of waiting, then I am in a season with purpose.

Let that sink in.

Your season of waiting is still a season with purpose.

It may not make sense to you. It may not make sense to those around you, but it makes sense to God. The almighty Creator, the omnipotent King, the Alpha and Omega looks at your life in this moment and sees a purpose. Now, whether or not you are fulfilling that purpose is entirely your choice, but He has a purpose for where He has you at this moment.

David writes in the Psalms that, “The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me” (Psalm 138:8 ESV).

This verse gives me encouragement when I think of the burdens that the Lord has laid on my heart since I was a young girl. I am sure that many of us have held on to the hope that He will complete the work He has started in us.

But what about today’s purpose?

Think of David. He was prophesied to be the anointed king of Israel – the leader of God’s chosen people. And yet we find him playing the harp for the callous Saul to soothe his soul. We find him slaying a giant for the people he will one day rule. We see him fighting in and leading armies for the God of Israel. We do not read of a slothful man, but a man that made the most of each day he was given.

David found purpose in the waiting.

He saved the lives of his people without a crown when he slung that slingshot. He led armies to victory before anyone bowed down to him. He used the moments to learn and to grow. He chose to live a life worthy of being the king before it ever happened. And I believe that each purpose he found brought him one step closer to being the man God intended to be king.

So this is my challenge today, and it is more to myself than to anyone else.

Find purpose in your waiting.

Because I can promise you it is there.