Uniquely Made.
For such a time as this.
2024 was a year of major growth. I don’t know what it was like for you, but for me, it was a year of growth. Growth isn’t always easy. It can be really tough. Growth can look like corrective criticism from people you love. Growth can mean moving to a new state and starting something new. Growth can look like remaining in a job that’s really difficult and doesn’t feel super life giving. Growth can look a lot of different ways, for a lot of different people.
2024 was a year of growing pains. I dealt with a lot of pain that I didn’t think I could move past, and truthfully I am still learning to look ahead and not behind into that pain. Pain can be the extent in which you care, or it can be what stops you from moving forward in faith. It can be really easy to sit in pain and not see what the Lord is doing in your life.
2024 brought a new job, new friends, depth in old friendships, a new relationship and excitement for the future. On the flip side, 2024 also brought out a lot of trauma, grief and reliving the past to move forward. There is a season for everything in your life.
I love the verse in Esther 4:14 that quotes, “If you keep quiet at this time, someone else will help and save the Jewish people, but you and your father’s family will all die. And who knows, you may have been chosen queen for just such a time as this.” In her early life, Esther would have never imagined that she would be made queen to help save the Jewish people. But Christ had a plan for her life. It involved growing pains, confidence and courage to walk in the calling and path the Lord had uniquely designed for her.
I never in one million years would have thought that 2024 would have included me grieving the loss of my mom the way I did. I also never thought the Lord would have given me the sweetest relationship in 2024. It’s the process of the “both and” statements. I can be both joyful for something so special and I can also grieve my mom’s death. I can be both nervous about the future and still remember Christ has already written my story. I genuinely do not believe that God is afraid of your “both and” statements. I think He welcomes them. I say that with so much confidence because we are human. Let me say it again — you.are.human. You are not God. You will have doubt and you will struggle with the growing pains. But, you still have the freedom to see the Lord’s faithfulness and love in those seasons of pain and growth.
I don’t know if this year was a season of bearing fruit for you or if it was mainly a year of pain. What I do know is that Christ has made you for such a time as this. You and I might not be queen like Esther was, but that does not mean that our stories aren’t just as important and impactful. Your story is being written by the King of kings. He has good plans for you. Beyond that, He just loves you.
I want to challenge each of us as we walk into the year 2025 to remember that we were made for such a time as this. 2025 might be just as hard or just as exciting as 2024 has been. Whatever the outcome, the Lord is just as faithful as He was the year before. What are you looking forward to in this new year? Does it have to do with money? Are you hoping for a new job? Do you want to grow your family? What is it? My friend, no matter the fruit or the growing pain, if you do not invite Christ in the midst of it, what exactly is the purpose of your season? I hope that whatever answer you’re looking for on the other side of that question, Christ remains at the center of it. I hope that whatever it is, you are looking forward and up at Christ. You were uniquely made for such a time as this.