This is a Season

Have you ever read in Ecclesiastes about seasons?

“There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,

    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I was reading through it this week and I remembered some of the seasons I have been through in recovery that stand out. One was back when I had such bad anxiety that there were times I felt I would die from how bad it was.

I remember one night I was attempting to sleep but I couldn’t because my body was tense, my heart was racing, and I could hardly breathe.

I curled up with my pillow and I remember I cried out to God with tears streaming down my face. “Why is this happening?! Will it ever go away?! I can’t take this anymore?!”

There were many sleepless and long nights like that one over the years and honestly in the moment it was hard to see more than the next 30 seconds. I could not imagine life being different. I felt like I was so broken and that I was absolutely nothing.

What I realize now is that was just a season. It was a “moment in time” that didn’t define me or make me who I was or am now. It was my experience and my feelings in that moment.

It did not define me then and it doesn’t define me now.

Like being a trauma survivor – it doesn’t define you. It is who you are, but that is not all you are. If you know Jesus, you are a child of God.

So, wherever you are today, remember it is only a season. It will not last forever especially if you are working to process your trauma and develop skills to deal with your emotions.

Allow God to bring you healing as you do this and provide yourself grace for where you are and the season you’re in.

Trust that it won’t last forever and allow God to use this to give you hope and energy to move forward each day and take the next step.

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© 2021 Susan M. Clabaugh. All Rights Reserved.