Seasons
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
It’s easy to think that if we’re not getting what we’re praying for, God isn’t listening. We fast, we pray, we beg—and sometimes nothing. We think that maybe we’re praying for the wrong thing, or even worse, that God doesn’t want us to be happy. Maybe we don’t deserve it. Why would we? Slowly our faith begins to slip.
“God had led me out of Egypt only to die in the desert.”
Trina had been working her whole adult life in hopes of starting her own practice. For over a decade she worked as a registered dietician specializing in treating people with eating disorders, all the while praying for her own practice. To be able to go off on her own she’d need more financial stability, more resources, and most of all, more time. With multiple children, Trina knew that starting her own practice would mean less time with her little ones. So she prayed. For eleven years. Without an answer.
“I prayed...and prayed...and prayed.”
Seasons passed as Trina grew in her talents. Years came and went, still she prayed. Then, in 2014, Trina got a call from a dietician that worked in Kalamazoo; their go-to dieticians in the area were both retiring and wanted to know if she would be interested in opening a local practice specializing in eating disorders! Finally, after days, months, years of prayer, she was finally getting the answer she wanted. She had been saving and preparing for this moment, and now that her children were older, the timing felt absolutely perfect.
Opening up her practice went on without a hitch. Trina set up her dream practice and built her schedule so that she could still spend time with her family and friends. It seemed as though everything she had asked for was being handed to her on a silver platter. But when it came time to open the doors, nothing. No clients. Trina sent letters to doctors and joined non-profits in hopes of getting business, but months went by and there was barely enough to keep the lights on. It had seemed so clear that her prayers had been answered, but now it all felt like empty promises. She had done her waiting, why would God trick her like this?
A year later, things weren’t looking up. It was January and Trina was still praying just as hard as ever that she would see her dream become a reality, but all the days without an answer were beginning to take a toll. It seemed as though it was about time for Trina to put her dreams to rest and just move on. But one Sunday, just like every other Sunday, Trina went to church. That day Pastor Lee spoke about Joseph and his dreams. In the middle of preaching, Pastor Lee stopped and said that the Holy Spirit was revealing to him that someone in the room was losing hope, but their long awaited dream would soon come true! In that moment Trina knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to her, and that she couldn’t lose hope. Days later the words, “Are you ready?” woke Trina up in the middle of the night. With her house empty and her husband still asleep beside her, Trina knew that this was her moment, that Jesus had been listening all along, that this was her season.
“When God answered my prayer, it was like he handed me everything I asked for on a silver platter.”
That morning Trina woke up to an answering machine full of messages from potential clients! There was an absolute outpouring of interest in her practice, and her dreams finally came true.
It’s easy to think that if we’re not getting what we’re praying for, God isn’t listening. We fast, we pray, we beg, and sometimes- nothing. We think that maybe we’re praying for the wrong thing, or even worse, that God doesn’t want us to be happy. Maybe we don’t deserve it. Why would we? Slowly our faith begins to slip. But then we remember the seasons. The seasons to weep, and the seasons to laugh. The seasons to keep, and the seasons to cast away. The seasons to sow and the seasons to reap.
Do you feel your story can serve as a hope and inspiration to others? Contact us at mystory@radiant.church.