There is a general heaviness all around us right now. there is massive grief. There is a sorrow that is indescribable. It is easy to see the darkness and settle into it.
The church, the country, the world--we never anticipated the massive changes that would come with 2020. We never would have guessed that how we live and function could be so upended. We never could have predicted the loss and the grief that was coming.
We never would have expected to be so tired, so anxious, so stressed.
And yet here we are: beginning a new year scraping by because we barely got out of the last one.
It is easy to look back over the past year with anger, sorrow and frustration. It is understandable that these things might be dwelling within us. We haven’t really had time to breathe and consider what has happened. This is because even though the year has ended, the circumstances have not.
The events of this past year have caused great grief and deep sadness in many families. It has caused upheaval in lives and churches and places of work. We have changed the way we live. We have within us the heavy burden from all that has been lost. We carry the stress of the unknown and the too painful.
Because of all of this, it would be easy to say, “Good riddance to 2020! Let’s get on with 2021!” I’d like for us to slow down just for a moment. I think that if we are wise, we will not throw the whole year out the window and try to run away from what has happened.
It is true that there were a lot of hard and terrible and heartbreaking things that happened over the past year. Can we simply acknowledge this as a part of life and live in the messiness of it? Can we look at 2020 without judgment and accept that this has been a heavy season, but that God is still present? The truth is that for every season, the good ones and the bad, God walks beside us.
Look at Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
Something I’ve only recently noticed is that there is no judgment in this scripture about how things are. There is just the knowledge that these circumstances are all part of life. There are seasons of loss, and sorrow, and brokenness. There are seasons of mourning and weeping. They exist. I love this and need this perspective!
For many many people 2020 was one of these dark seasons. (2021 may continue to be one too.) For many families who have lost loved ones, for churches who have closed, for people who have lost their jobs, and for many other reasons, it was especially so.
I don’t know that anyone actually likes these seasons. Can we be still for a few moments and recognize the truth of them, without judgment? Can we just sit with the knowledge that they simply are?
If we can do that, we can then look and see that the Scripture equally speaks to the good. Life is both good and bad. Everything has a season. The author of Ecclesiastes is sharing with us what IS: the state of life. It’s not the way things might be or the way we wish they would be, but it is the way things are.
We are subject to events and circumstances in life that we have little or no control over. So, it becomes important that we acknowledge what is and accept what has been. All of these things are part of life, even life as a believer.
The good news is that we do not live in the hope of perfect circumstances, but a perfect God. We do not live in the expectation that nothing bad will ever happen. We do live in the belief that even in the darkness, God is still our light.
No matter where you are today or what happened in your last year, there was both bad and good. No matter what happens in 2021, I can guarantee you that there will be both bad and good. Life is up and down. The truth that we see in Ecclesiastes 3, even as we sit in the knowledge of what 2020 has been, is that we can hope for a season of healing and laughing and dancing. This is my hope for all of us.
Friends, in these dark seasons it is easy to turn inward. Here is what I want to encourage you to do:
- Pick up a pen and write a thank you letter to a mentor who has inspired you.
- Grab your phone and call someone who needs encouragement.
- If you’ve got the means….grab a $5 coffee card and send it to a young woman starting out in ministry.
We all must go through seasons of darkness, but we do not have to do it alone! 2020 has been heavy, but you are not alone in it.
Wesleyan Holiness Women Clergy
exists to equip, engage, and encourage women in ministry. This only truly works when we are connected. So make connections. Use your gifts to encourage another woman in ministry. Engage with each other and build each other up. This is a time to embrace one other, a time to boost each other up, this is a time where we truly need each other as we serve and work in the Kingdom of God.
