The Frustration of Feeling Stuck
Have you ever felt like you’re doing all the right things but at the wrong time? You’re putting in the work, staying faithful, and making good choices, yet you still feel frustrated, stuck, or like you’re stagnating. It’s a deeply discouraging place to be.
But what if the issue isn’t what you’re doing, but the season you’re in? The ancient wisdom of Ecclesiastes introduces a powerful framework for understanding these moments: for everything, there is a season. The problem is, if you misread the season, you run the risk of doing the right things at the wrong time, and you’ll wonder why you are frustrated.
If you feel like you’re in a season of waiting, weeping, or tearing down, it’s easy to lose hope. But there is a different way to see it. Let’s explore four transformative ideas that can reframe your perspective on whatever you are currently going through.
Four Transformative Ideas About Life’s Seasons
By shifting how we view our circumstances, we can find purpose and strength in the periods that once felt like dead ends.
Your Frustration Isn’t the Season, It’s How You’re Reading It
Often, our greatest frustration comes from misinterpreting the spiritual, emotional, or communal season we’re in. This misreading can lead us to do the right things at the wrong time, leaving us exhausted and confused. For example, trying to plant seeds in a season of winter will only lead to disappointment.
The issue is rarely the season itself, but “how we manage the moments, the minutes, and the minutiae” within it. Understanding this allows you to stop fighting against the current and start working with it. It’s about recognizing that this period has a purpose and is not a permanent state of being.
This Season is not my final destination.
Your Life Isn’t Random; It’s Divinely Ordered
In difficult times, it’s tempting to believe that life is unfair, random, or just a series of unfortunate events left to happenstance. We can feel that God’s hand is absent or that we have been forgotten.
The counter-intuitive truth is that every season is part of a divine plan. This is rooted in the theological principle of the sovereignty of God—the understanding that He appoints every season according to His agenda. These are not just strings of accidents but “divinely orchestrated and ordered windows” of time. This means that God’s sovereignty leads us to “green pastures” but also walks with us through “the valley of the shadow of death.” Every season is appointed by Him and has a profound purpose. It is in these moments that faith becomes our anchor.
Faith doesn’t mean you never feel the weight of life. Faith means we keep trusting God even though we feel the weight.
Seasons Are Temporary and Your Perspective Defines Them
A fundamental truth of life is that nothing stays the same. Seasons change. As Ecclesiastes reminds us, there is a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to tear and a time to mend. This rhythm is a guarantee that the season you are in now will eventually pass.
Furthermore, seasons are not inherently “good” or “bad.” Our limited human perspective, often skewed by our own “wants, wishes, and whims,” is what labels them. We see a season of waiting as negative because we want to be moving forward. Shifting your thinking—from judging a season to simply observing it as a temporary and purposeful part of a larger plan—can be incredibly liberating. Remember, the changing of the seasons is not a sign of God’s absence. Seasons come and go, that doesn’t mean that God will leave you or forsake you.
This Isn’t Punishment, It’s Preparation
This may be the most powerful and hopeful reframe of all: God uses seasons to shape us. The difficult season you are in right now is not meant to hurt you, but to help you.
God is using this season not as a setback, but as a setup for better. The current season of waiting or struggle might be preparing you for a future that requires a “different version of you”—one that is more patient, focused, or disciplined. God’s protective love is at work in this process. And so God orders this season so that the next season won’t overwhelm you. God orders this season so that the next betrayal won’t break you. It is God’s training camp for what is coming.
Your current season isn’t a detour; it is the development for your destiny.
Think of the great stories of faith. Joseph had a pit season and a prison season to prepare him for his palace season. Moses had a palace season, then a desert season, to prepare him for his deliverance season. David’s time in the pasture prepared him to rule from a palace. Ruth endured a season of devastating loss before she could step into her season of legacy. Their difficult seasons were essential preparation for their God-given destiny.
What Is This Season Preparing You For?
Every season, no matter how it feels in the moment, has a divine purpose. It is not wasted time; it is an active period of preparation for what is to come. When you feel stuck, remember that “God does his best work in seasons.” He is shaping, molding, and developing you for your destiny.
If this season isn’t a setback but a setup, what do you think God is preparing you for?
Paul D. Flowers, Sr. 