Weekly Magazine | Finding God in Every Season

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Dear Friends,

Life is a journey, full of seasons—some brimming with joy, others marked by hardship. One moment, everything feels steady; the next, we’re caught in a storm we never saw coming. Maybe you’re in one of those seasons right now, wondering where God is in the middle of it all.

Here’s the beautiful truth: God is with you in every season. He has never left your side, not once. This week, we’re leaning into that promise—through stories of resilience, lessons learned in life’s unexpected turns, and reminders that God’s faithfulness stretches across every chapter of our lives.

If you’ve ever wondered whether God is still at work in your story, let this issue remind you: He is. He always has been. He always will be.

Encouraging You in God’s Truth,

🌟 Finding God in Any Season – Lessons from the Voyage of Life | Lori Ann Wood
Life is full of seasons—some peaceful, some stormy. But no matter where we are on life’s journey, God is always with us. Discover the powerful lessons from The Voyage of Life paintings and how they reflect God’s faithfulness through every stage of life.

🌿 3 Lessons to Take from Facing Unexpected Challenges | Renee Smith
When life takes an unexpected turn, how do we respond? These three lessons will help you navigate hardship with a faith-filled perspective, learning to trust God even when the path ahead is uncertain.

🌿 God’s Faithfulness in the Hardest Moments | Connie Fink
Missionary Kellie Knapp’s life has been anything but ordinary. From surviving a terrorist attack to ministering across the globe, her incredible story reveals how God’s faithfulness sustains us—even in the darkest moments.

📖 Pause & Reflect

📜 Verse of the Week

🙏 Prayer of the Week

A Book to Encourage You This March

This book by author Heather Comber is not about perfection, nor is it about formulas or methods. But rather, it is about listening and learning to recognize the voice that walks alongside you. I guarantee you will laugh, and hopefully you will experience both the joy and the tears that accompany new levels of intimacy with your Lord.

Finding God in Any Season — Lessons from the Voyage of Life

By: Lori Ann Wood

Decades ago, my husband and I attended a marriage seminar at our church. We were young, our kids were young, even our parents were still young. The speakers were a middle-aged married couple with some precious experience under their belts. We were sponges, wanting to absorb all the wisdom, hoping to keep the fairytale going in our lives. Life for us was humming along fine. We thought it was because we were so intentional and prepared.

But something those speakers said lodged in my subconscious. I first resisted it, then revisited it late at night for years: “It’s not if trouble comes in your family, but when.”

THE RAPIDS OF LIFE

Of course, they were right. We just hadn’t experienced the turbulence yet.

The four years that followed brought five unexpected deaths in our family, a difficult remodel, two devastating diagnoses, and some resulting faith struggles.

We began to realize that intentionality and preparation only insulate us from so much. And we started to understand that it truly is not a matter of if problems visit, but when.

But we’ve also learned something even more important. Though most of the hardest days we didn’t feel it, as we look back over the stormy seas we’ve traveled in our family, we now can see that God was present through each stage.

A recent trip to Washington, D.C. reinforced this idea.

THE VOYAGE OF LIFE

My favorite paintings in the National Gallery of Art in DC include a series by Thomas Cole from 1840 called Voyage of Life. Cole gave us a brilliant allegory of the human condition and God’s presence throughout the four seasons of life, depicted through a voyager on a river.

CHILDHOOD — spring

The first painting called “Childhood” and is set in the spring. An infant on a boat is unknowingly guarded by an onboard angel as he enters a lush, tranquil Edenic environment. Dawn is up ahead. The painting exudes oblivious protection, joy, and wonder—the characteristic emotions of childhood.

YOUTH — summer

In Cole’s second painting, “Youth,” we encounter summer. The voyager is an energetic, excited young boy now. Motioning from the shore, the angel encourages him to go ahead down the river and choose a life for himself. The boy takes hold of the boat’s tiller. Beyond the towering trees and mountains, the painting shows a castle in the distance. The boy steers toward it.

MANHOOD — autumn

Entering an autumn landscape with wind-beaten trees, a grown man replaces the once-young traveler in “Manhood.” The boat is damaged, the tiller is gone. The river is a whitewater rush with unforgiving rocks, dangerous whirlpools, and surging currents. Within the dark, stormy sky, the angel is not absent, just harder to find. Realizing he is not in control, the man prays fervently to survive the storms.

OLD AGE — winter

In “Old Age,” the final painting, the river has calmed. The weathered boat shows that the man is nearing the end. His journey is almost over. An angel again comes near the elderly traveler. For the first time, the voyager experiences the angel’s full, recognized presence. Joy returns as the man is focused on the glimpse of Heaven up ahead.

I suppose for those of us in one of the later frames, the applications are obvious.

GOD IS WITH US

A gift from my husband many years pre-illness, a set of these prints hangs near my bedroom closet. I walk by them every day.

I’ve always loved so much about the art’s symbolism:

• How the river, like life, goes from calm, to rushed, to turbulent, to calm again.

• How our surroundings are so lush and promising in the beginning, then become rockier and more treacherous, and finally fade in importance.

• How at first we are oblivious to our protection, then we try to take control of it ourselves, only to realize in the end where the real control always was.

But the part that takes center stage for me now is the part the angel plays. Cole used the angel to stand in for God’s presence.

Though at first we don’t bother seeing Him and then we may even be convinced He has abandoned us, He never has, all throughout the voyage of life. In every season, in every painting, in every phase of life, despite the delight or difficulty, God is there. His love stretches across every frame in the voyage of life.

Nine years ago, my current season of life started. I was diagnosed with a chronic, progressive disease. I moved to the brink of Cole’s last painting a little earlier than I had hoped or planned. I didn’t realize it at the time, and I certainly didn’t see God in the frame of my life. Sometimes we just don’t know what to do with the story we’re living. I sure didn’t that dark week in late 2015.

Perspective provided by the past several years has helped me realize that we are all traveling a similar voyage of life within God’s eternal narrative. We all move from season to season, frame to frame, just like Thomas Cole’s paintings. But the beautiful part we may have trouble recognizing is this: God never leaves the scene of our lives. Even in seasons when we have difficulty finding Him, He’s always there.

I have lived long enough now to have my own story, complete with a warning that it’s not if but when trouble comes. I have navigated a season looking for (and finding) God when it seemed unlikely that I would. In doing this, my own faith has been strengthened again and again. And as life goes, I am now the one speaking on stages to younger Christians.

But I’m still learning and growing from those ahead of me in the voyage of life. What can I say? All these years later, I’m still a sponge.

Lori Ann Wood is an award-winning freelance author. Her work has been published in several anthologies and numerous print and online venues, and her first book, Divine Detour: The Path You’d Never Choose Can Lead to the Faith You’ve Always Wanted, is available online at Amazon and loriannwood.com/books. Connect with her on Instagram, or on Facebook.

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Read:

• Isaiah 41:10; Deuteronomy 31:8; Psalm 139:7-10

Reflect:

• Think of a time when you struggled to see God’s presence. What changed that helped you recognize He was there all along?

• What season of life do you find yourself in right now? How is God showing His faithfulness to you in this moment?

Bible Verse of the Week:

• “Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

3 Lessons for Trusting God Through Life’s Unexpected Challenges

By: Renee Smith

Life is full of unexpected turns—some small, some life-altering. When challenges hit us out of nowhere, our first instinct may be fear, frustration, or even questioning God. But what if those moments hold hidden opportunities for spiritual growth?

Renee Smith shares three key lessons that help us shift our perspective when life feels out of control. From assessing our faith, to looking for God at work, to realigning our hearts with Him, these insights will help you navigate life’s uncertainties with trust instead of fear.

➡ How can you grow spiritually through life’s challenges? Find out here:

God’s Faithfulness in the Hardest Moments

By: Connie Fink

What does faith look like in the face of real danger? As a young girl living in Somalia, Kellie Knapp and her family became the target of a terrorist attack. Hiding in fear, she prayed for a quick death—but instead, she witnessed an undeniable miracle of God’s protection.

Kellie has walked through seasons of uncertainty, transition, and even deep despair. But through it all, she clings to one truth: God is faithful. Her powerful testimony will remind you that no matter what you face, God is working behind the scenes—even when you can’t see it yet.

➡ Read Kellie’s incredible story of faith and survival here:

Prayer of the Week:

Father, thank You for Your unwavering faithfulness. In every season—whether filled with joy or burdened with trials—You remain the same. When life feels uncertain, remind me that You have never left my side. Strengthen my heart to trust You, even when I don’t understand the path before me.

When storms come, help me to remember the ways You have been faithful in the past. Let my faith be rooted in the truth of who You are, not just in what I see or feel in the moment. Open my eyes to recognize Your presence, even in the hardest days.

Lord, use my story to encourage others. May my trust in You be a testimony of Your goodness, drawing others closer to You. No matter what I face, let my heart declare: Great is Your faithfulness! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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