Ecclesiastes 3:1 — “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Okay, can we just sit with this for a second? Because I used to read this verse and think it was just... pretty. Very poetic. The kind of thing you cross-stitch onto a pillow. Except you don’t ever want me to cross-stitch for you — you’ll discover things on it that were never on the original picture on the package. LOL!
But here’s the aha moment that is speaking volumes to me right now: Solomon isn’t describing seasons like they’re something that just happen to you, like weather you have to endure. He’s saying seasons are designed to end.
On purpose. By God.
Which means — hang on, this is the part that matters — holding onto something past its season isn’t devotion. It’s not “being faithful.” Sometimes it’s just fear of letting go, because we all get comfortable with what feels familiar to us, and we know seasons always come with change.
And here’s the thing we don’t always get either: God doesn’t owe you an explanation for why the season’s changing. He just asks you to trust that the Hand holding the calendar is also the Hand holding you.
It takes me back to when the Lord spoke so clearly to us that we were supposed to move here to North Carolina. Did we get the reasons why our years of living in Nashville, TN had to end? Right on the precipice of getting a phone call from my son saying, “Mom, I’m moving back to Nashville in a month...” The very month we were going to be moving to North Carolina.
I won’t lie, that still brings tears to my eyes. That was a very difficult yes to give to the Lord when that news came. But I knew I had to let the Lord be our guide no matter what. And yes — we were even driving away from my other son and his family and our grands. And while they were moving out of state, within a year, they had moved back to TN.
So yes, changing seasons — God surely doesn’t have to explain them. In our human understanding, we’ll never fully know. But the most important thing is giving God your yes, even when it hurts. Let the seasons change when He calls for it, because there’s no greater way to live than being obedient to His ways and His plans for your life.
Additional Scriptures to Sit With This Week
Psalm 31:15 — “My times are in your hands.” Not my to-do list. Not my five-year plan. Not the thing I built with my bare hands and cried over and prayed over. My times. Plural. All of them — the ones I loved and the ones I’m ready to be done with.
Isaiah 43:18-19 — “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past... I am doing a new thing!” Don’t let your current season block your view of what God is wanting to do in this new season. Dwelling on last season is like standing in a doorway staring backward while the whole next room is lit up behind you. Let it go and move forward into a new season.
Lamentations 3:22-23 — “His mercies are new every morning.” If His mercy resets daily, why do we act like our assignments have to stay fixed forever? New mercy, new grace, maybe... new assignment.
Proverbs 3:5-6 — Trusting Him doesn’t just mean trusting the outcome. It means trusting the timing — even when the timing feels like loss.
Holy Habit Reflection Questions
What am I still carrying simply because I’ve always carried it — not because God ever actually asked me to?
Where has peace quietly packed its bags and left something I’m still white-knuckling?
If I’m honest, am I afraid that letting go of this thing means I’m giving up on it — or on myself?
What would happen if I actually asked God, out loud, “Do You still want this?” — and then sat still long enough to hear the answer instead of rushing to fill the silence?
Is there a “good thing” on my plate right now that’s quietly stealing room from the “God thing” He’s trying to hand me next?
Holy Habit Practice
This week, grab actual pen and actual paper (yes, I’m making you do this the old-fashioned way). Write down everything currently on your plate — every role, every project, every “yes” you’ve said. Next to each one, write a single word: Season or Forever.
Don’t overthink it. Don’t journal a dissertation about it as we aren’t working on our doctorates here. LOL! Just be brutally honest for about ten seconds per item.
Then pick ONE item marked “Season.” Just one. And go sit with God about it — not to quit it dramatically on the spot, not to blow up your life by Thursday — just to ask the same question this week’s Holy Habit has asked: “Is this still the assignment?”
And then here’s the hard part: actually wait. Actually rest in whatever answer — or holy silence — comes back. Because sometimes the answer isn’t a word. Sometimes it’s just peace. And peace, my friend, is an answer.