Daily Devotionals for Women - Today's Encouraging Word from Scripture

Your Nightly Prayer

Finding Joy in the Wait
by Meg Bucher

TONIGHT’S SCRIPTURE

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT

SOMETHING TO PONDER

The changing of seasons in the Midwest reminds me how quickly time is passing. Spring in Ohio is my least favorite season, and the one my body tolerates with the most resistance. With every passing decade, my body protests louder to the thirty-degree temperature shifts every 24 hours or so. It makes me tired, and I’m tired of being cold. I’m beginning to understand why people become snowbirds. I think I’ll aim to be a springbird. I hate spring. The sun is shining and everything is green again, but I have to wear a parka and rainboots, racing to cut my lawn before the next torrential downpour …or frost. Yesterday I got sunburned taking a Sunday nap in my hammock …today I’m shivering at my desk.

Time doesn’t pass for us as it does for God. He is timeless. He is all-knowing. He doesn’t have to wait and see what tomorrow will be like, because He’s already there. Spring in Ohio tests my patience and makes me want to move. Even though the surroundings are beautiful, I don’t like the way the temperatures make me feel. Inside or outside? Sweater or tank top? Heat or air conditioning? I’m so glad the faithfulness of God doesn’t flip-flop, and relieved God is the God of time, and not me.

I would speed through these months. Definite skip button. But I regret I would miss what He has for me in this season if I were able to fast forward to the next. Only He knows what I would miss, and how I would stunt my growth. As eager as the birds are to down all the seed in the feeders hours after they have been filled, I look towards heaven and drink in His goodness, wondering what is coming next. Will it be sunny or cloudy? Happy or sad? Who will I meet? What memories will be made? Spring makes me search for the joy in the midst of the waiting. When Summer arrives, I’ll take a deep breath and relax into the warm cushions of our boat as we glide across the lake at sunset. And it will have been worth the wait, again.

YOUR NIGHTLY PRAYER

Father,
Thank you for reminding us there is a reason for every season, for all of the things we walk through. You don’t waste a minute of our lives, and walk faithfully next to us through it all. Help us to be patient as we wait for uncomfortable seasons to pass by, and to see the joy in those days instead of racing through them.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.

THREE THINGS TO MEDITATE UPON:

1. Take a moment to think about your favorite season. Picture the scenery, the activities, and the people. Remember the places you go, and what it feels like and even smells like.

2. Think about the most incredible moments in your life. Which bubbled to the surface first, and what season did they happen in?

3. Ask God to help you see life as He does, and embrace every day along the way.

Meg Bucher Meg writes about everyday life within the love of Christ at megbucher.com. She is the author of “Friends with Everyone, Friendship within the Love of Christ,” “Surface, Unlocking the Gift of Sensitivity,” “Glory Up, The Everyday Pursuit of Praise,” “Home, Finding Our Identity in Christ,” "Sent, Faith in Motion," Connected: 100 Days of Connecting God’s Word to our Everyday and Jammed - a 365 Day Devotional. Meg earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University but stepped out of the business world to stay home and raise her two daughters …which led her to pursue her writing passion as a blogger and freelance writer. A contributing writer for Salem Web Network since 2016, Meg is now thrilled to be a part of the editorial team at Salem Web Network. She loves being involved in her community and local church, leads Bible study, and serves as a youth leader.