What Is This Season Depositing?
The season that feels like it’s taking the most from you may be depositing something you’ll carry for the rest of your life.
I saw this quote on Instagram, and it is always fascinating where such wisdom might lead. My train of thought takes twists and turns that often surprise me in the end. There’s a particular kind of loss that comes from a season of change. It reaches deep inside leaving behind an exhaustion from being emptied rather than filled. Occupations, locations, relationships, and plans you built your identity around. Losing one or more of these makes it tempting to measure a season only by what toll it takes on you. It’s often hard to see what this season is depositing in us in the present.
But Scripture rarely measures seasons of life the way we do. Let’s reflect on James’ words,
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2-4 NLT
And Paul says something similar:
We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:3-5 NLT
The Cost of Hard Seasons
Scripture does not deny the costs of hard seasons. No, it insists that something, something beautiful, is being built underneath the cost. That’s usually how God-given deposits work. We feel the withdrawal, but the wisdom of what actually matters shows up in how we handle the next thing.
Perhaps this season serves as an invitation to hold both/and: this is costing something, and something is being formed that a comfortable season could never build.
Reflection:
- What has/is this season taking from you right now, honestly?
- What do you sense forming underneath the loss?
Prayer:
God, this season has cost me more than I ever expected. I don’t want to rush past the pain or pretend it doesn’t hurt. But I will ask that You give me the eyes to see that You are depositing something in me I can’t gain any other way. Amen.
*For those of you who prayer walk, as you walk, ponder the question, “What is this season depositing?” And listen intently for what the Holy Spirit reveals along the way.
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