The bright orange construction sign grabbed my attention as I approached. The bold lettering was easily read from afar, “ROAD CLOSED.” However, as I drew closer, I could see that someone had added, “4EVER.”
From the looks of the construction site, it appeared that there was still a lot of work to be done before the road could be driven on again. I imagined that the person who added “4EVER” to the sign must have been someone who had driven by time and again, wondering in their frustration when the construction would be complete and when their inconvenience would come to an end. To them, it certainly must have seemed like the road would be closed “4EVER.”
Isn’t that the way life seems sometimes? We can be happily navigating along when suddenly, we find ourselves in a difficult situation that lasts much longer than we had anticipated. As our waiting period grows longer and longer, we start to lose hope that things will ever get better. It seems like the struggle will last “4EVER.”
Are you going through something right now that seems it will never end? Take heart! Wise King Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Life consists of times and seasons, and some of those seasons can last for a very long time. Whatever you are going through, remember that God is with you. Turn to him. Pray, search the scriptures, hold on to God’s promises and remember all the wonderful things that he has already done.
When the season continues to drag on, ask yourself a few questions, “Is there anything that God is asking me to do in this current situation? What can I learn from this incident? How can I use my experience to help others who may be struggling as well?”
Our life here on earth is short and though our trying seasons may seem like they will last “4EVER,” they really will come to an end. So while we are here on earth, we hold on to God through these tough times, we allow him to transform us through the experience to be more like Jesus, and we wait for the day when he will take us home where all of our difficulties, all of our suffering and all of our struggling will finally come to an end. Hold on to the hope that one day those who belong to him and have endured to the end will be living in his presence in a perfect place “4EVER.”