Every Summer Has A Story

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Every summer has a story.

I read that quote while scrolling Instagram recently, and it grabbed my attention. Every summer has a story. If your summer was written up and and cataloged in your local library, in which section would it be located?

Looking back over the last three months, nothing major stands out in my mind. It hasn’t been a summer of intense trials where the pages of my journal are filled with big lessons and life-altering truths. For that, I’m thankful.

Here’s the thing about the stories that make up our lives: we aren’t the authors. God is the author of our stories! He lovingly writes them with eternity in His view. Some chapters are filled with trials because God’s love for us has an end game – Christ likeness. 

This was beautifully illustrated to me in a quote I heard in this past Sunday’s message. (I believe it’s from this book, but I’m not confident)

“Problems are those situations engineered by God to bring us face to face with our deficiencies so we might view His sufficiency as our only alternative. Every problem is an opportunity to trust the Lord and watch Him step into circumstances for His glory.”

As I mentioned, my journal isn’t filled with pages of lesson upon lesson that I learned this summer. There are just two things that stand out from the past three months – a passage of Scripture and a few lines of a song. These have been encouraging, motivating and convicting throughout my fairly uneventful summer.

^“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9

Teach my song to rise to you / When temptation comes my way / And when I cannot stand, I’ll fall on You / Jesus, You’re my hope and stay (Chris Tomlin, Lord I Need You)

Uneventful doesn’t mean perfect! This summer I’ve dealt with a sinful heart (mine) and circumstances that make me want to say, “Enough already! Can’t I have a new plot in my story?!” That’s why I needed to meditate on Galatians 6:9. I’m so thankful that Jesus is my hope and stay!

Did your summer read like a fiction novel, with lazy days and breathtaking sunsets? Was your summer something out of a tragedy, filled with heartache and uncertainty? Perhaps it was a mystery – and you’re still not sure what to expect when you turn the corner.

Maybe your summer wasn’t really any of those things. Maybe it felt the same as the rest of the seasons, with not much difference from one day to the next.

Whatever the case, every summer has a story. What is yours? Take some time to think about what God has written for you this summer, and watch Him step into your circumstances for His glory. ❤