How Tough Seasons Magnify God's Goodness

This verse helped bring me out of a dark pit when I was a teenager. I experienced a season of depression that came from lack of understanding how to manage my ADHD. While it was a tough season, God had an amazing plan for it! It brought me to my knees in many ways and because of that, God opened up my heart to have a more deep relationship with him than I ever dreamed possible.

During this time, I sought God’s face as this psalm says. I poured out my heart to the Lord. He listened to me and showed himself to be strong in my life. I believe He has a wonderful plan for whatever you're facing this week too. How can I say this confidently? Because I saw what He did in my life through that time.

He allowed me to have a daily communion with him. Once I got into the practice of seeking his face in every situation, I started to see his hand in everything. Because of the Lord’s grace, depression isn’t something that holds me in its clutches anymore. God helped me understand the importance of looking to him for help and allowing others to grow and keep me accountable. He also showed me the wisdom in the gifts of exercise, meditating on and memorizing Scripture (like we do here as a community).

I was reminded of this season recently when I took some time to study the character of Mary (yes, using our super cool character stamps which are here!). The Lord reminded me once again how important it is to to simply be with Him, seeking His face and presence. Alone time with him helps settle our souls into the one who knows how to address all our needs. When we spend time, face-to-face, with the God of the universe, we can see things from a more clear perspective. Without an agenda and a need to check off a list we can just spend time sitting at our Lord's feet like Mary did, soaking up His presence and seeking His face.

Isn’t that just like our God? We think we are in a dark season of our lives (and we might be!), but it always turns out to be a fruitful or meaningful season because God is training us in it. Of course, it is challenging to see this truth in the middle of the pain. It is hard to walk in pain, whether spiritual, emotional, mental or physical. But we don’t walk in that pain alone! Even better, when we use that time to seek God’s face, he always turns it into something amazing for His kingdom ad for us!

Let’s remember this week that as we seek the Lord’s face about anything we encounter today, He has the power to turn it into something wonderful. Please feel free to share a time that the Lord brought you through and how it turned out to be a gift and not merely a dark season!

If you are joining us in this week's memory verse, happy memorizing!