75: Celebrating God’s Goodness In Every Season

Some moments feel so ordinary you almost miss them, until you realize you’re living inside an old prayer. I share one of those “time stands still” scenes from my own home and why it matters even more because it came after a season of depression and deep sadness. That contrast opens up a bigger question: what does it look like to celebrate God’s goodness when life is not easy, not clear, and not what you planned?

We talk about the seasons of life through a biblical lens, from the famous Ecclesiastes 3 passage to the steady promises of Psalm 105 and Psalm 34:8. Circumstances shift constantly, but God’s character does not. If you’re walking through transition, grief, uncertainty, exhaustion, or loneliness, the hope here is grounded and practical: God’s goodness is not absent in suffering, and His presence often becomes clearest in the hard places (Isaiah 43:2).

I also share lessons from military life and frequent moves, plus tangible practices to help you notice God’s faithfulness daily: intentional gratitude and a prayer journal, telling the stories out loud to your kids or community, and marking meaningful moments with an Ebenezer stone reminder (1 Samuel 7:12). We end with worship as discipline before feeling and the long view of Romans 8:28, letting God’s faithfulness shape how we live through every season.

If this encouraged you, subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next, share it with a friend who needs steadiness today, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find the show. What season are you in right now?

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Transcript

God’s Goodness In Every Season

Scripture That Anchors Faith

Learning Trust Through Military Moves

Strength Through Plenty And Need

Practical Habits To Notice God

Hope For Suffering And Closing

Leanne Tuggle 0:50

You know those moments that you have every once in a while where it just feels like time almost like freezes or stops. I remember one of those moments, and I remember it so clearly. It was just like a regular ordinary moment. Like there was nothing particularly special or noteworthy about it, but it is forever etched in my brain. Like I'm probably the only one who will ever hold on to this moment, but I remember that my husband was making pizza sauce in the kitchen. And so there was this like delicious smell of onions and garlic that was like wafting through the house. My boys were three at the time, and they were playing with their toys, like right on the floor, right at my feet. And I was curled up on the couch with my daughter, and we were just reading a book together. And I remember this moment because I remember looking up and looking around and just realizing that it was one of those moments for which I had once prayed. And my husband, he caught my eye and he knowingly said, You're having one of those moments right now, aren't you? And I remember I couldn't even speak. I just nodded my head in agreement. And I think what makes this moment stand out so clearly is that this scene that I just described came right after a particularly hard season for me. It was a season in which I had struggled with depression and a sadness so great that I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to experience light and joy again. And yet, and yet, God is so good because in that moment I could see that the same God who blessed me with this precious season of abundance was also walking with me in the midst of my trials. As women, we will walk through many different seasons throughout our lifetime. There will be joyful seasons, busy seasons, grieving or uncertain seasons, and then there will be the quiet, hidden seasons. The truth that I want you to hold on to today is that God's goodness is not limited to one type of season. And God walks with us through every season. It's kind of like that. I don't know if it's like a story or a proverb or whatever it is, but there was a man that was in heaven and he was looking down on earth and like looking at his lifetime etched in sand, like his footsteps walking on the beach. And he was looking at the two sets of footprints, and then during seasons that were particularly hard for him, he only saw one set of footprints. And he's looking at God saying, like, that was the hardest season. Like, why didn't you walk with me through that? And then God looks at him and says, I did. That's when I carried you. And this makes me think of that. That God is with us through every single season, and he carries us through those difficult seasons. The truth that I want us to kind of unpack here together today, in this episode, is that celebrating God's goodness isn't about pretending that everything is easy. It is about learning to see him faithfully present in every season. So, what season of life are you in right now? Before we examine our current season or our circumstances, we need to remind ourselves about who God is. It is so easy to forget. And I pray that you are encouraged to dig into the word and to remember who we serve. We've been talking about this all season long on this podcast. Psalm 105 says, For the Lord is good, his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. This verse reminds us that God is unchanging. Psalm 34, 8 encourages us to taste and see that the Lord is good. So while our circumstances change and we find ourselves in various seasons of life, God's goodness never changes. We can root ourselves in this hopeful truth, no matter what life throws in our direction. Probably one of the most famous passages in scripture regarding seasons is found in Ecclesiastes 3. And I want to read these eight verses to you right now, and I want you to think about which season are you in right now? 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 cast 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 cast 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. When I hear this list of different seasons, I'm reminded of some of the seasons that I've experienced as a woman, like seasons of building, waiting, mothering, serving, healing, or more currently, I find myself in a season of transition. Many of you know that my husband is in the military, and this means that we find ourselves in a season of transitioning roughly every two to three years. And every move that we have experienced so far has presented some sort of unique challenge. Like moving across the world on my own with three children under the age of five during a pandemic. That's probably the most notable challenge that I can think of. And yet, as I look back over each of those moves, I see so much evidence of God's goodness and how he used those seasons of transition or uncertainty to continue my formation into the woman he has called me to be. So when this upcoming move presented challenges of knowing that we would be moving, but not where we would be going, I didn't freak out like my former self might have. I simply had too much evidence of God's sovereignty and goodness. And so, why would this time be any different? If you are in a challenging season right now, know that even this difficulty that you wouldn't choose for anyone can still reveal the goodness of God. Recently I was reading Keep a Quiet Heart by Elizabeth Elliot, and I was reminded of what Paul says in Philippians 4, 12 and 13. And he writes, I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who gives me strength. In regards to this verse, Elizabeth Elliott says, God in his mercy did not choose to remove the dilemmas with which Paul faced, but chose instead to make himself known to Paul because of them, in ways which would strengthen his faith and make him a strengthener and an instrument of peace to the rest of us. And isn't that just like God to use our hard seasons as a way for us to relate to and bless others who may walk that same difficult path? Unfortunately, we often miss God's goodness because we are caught up in comparison or we are too busy to notice the work God is doing in our lives. Perhaps we have feelings of disappointment, or we are fixated on unrealistic expectations that cloud our vision. Or maybe we simply forget to consider God's goodness in the ordinary and we choose only to celebrate those big milestones. I know I'm definitely guilty of focusing only on the big answers to prayer or noticing God's goodness only when it aligns with what I want. I need to be better about seeing God's goodness in the little things. Like when I pray for strength to get through the day after a restless night of sleep, or in the moments when I don't know how to handle a particular parenting situation, and I send that quick prayer up only to realize later that the Holy Spirit did give me exactly what I needed in that moment. I don't want to miss out on the sweetness of the quiet moments spent with the Lord that renew my heart and soul. Or in the ordinary moments when I look up and realize that this is exactly what I once prayed for. So, how can we practically celebrate God's goodness no matter what season we are in? Here are some things that I have found to be particularly helpful for me in and out of every season. First, practice intentional gratitude. This is probably one of the most important things you can do. It seems so simple, but it is easier for us to complain than to be grateful. So write down daily evidence of God's goodness. It might be the most effective way to keep an account of God's faithfulness. I personally like to keep a prayer journal, and I find that recording my evidence right along with my current struggles helps me to see that God is in control and that he does have my best interests in mind. And then I can go back and look and see what I was struggling with like a year, a year ago, and see how he has helped me through that and can now help me in this next challenge that I may have. The other thing that you can do is to tell stories of God's faithfulness with others. There is something about saying it out loud that solidifies it in your mind. Share the stories with your children, share it with your small group, share what God is doing and what he has already done. There is something powerful about saying it out loud. And then slow down enough to mark those meaningful moments, like I mentioned at the beginning, where I noticed that moment, a simple ordinary moment in front of me. 1 Samuel 7, 12 says, Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mitzpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer, for he said, Till now the Lord has helped us. I love this short little story. This happens at a time when the Israelites were facing the Philistines and God was faithful to help deliver them from those enemies. And Samuel sets up this stone and says, Let this be like a visual reminder to us of God's faithfulness. And I recently tried this with my kids. They each picked out a stone and we talked about something that we had recently overcome through Christ who gave us strength. And then we discussed the lie that we had believed, and then what truth we were replacing that lie with, and kind of what we learned through that situation. And I love it because right now my dining table is covered with these little stones. And every time I walk by, I am reminded of the little things that God is doing, not only in my life, but also in the lives of my kids. The other thing that we can do to help us remember God's faithfulness is to worship God in every season. We don't need to just praise Him when things are easy, but to lift up our hands in good times and in bad. Something that I am slowly learning is that discipline often comes before feeling. So even when I don't feel like worshiping or celebrating, I find that disciplining myself to do it anyway is usually the catalyst that changes my heart and mind. I don't feel like worshiping, but I turn on the music anyway, and suddenly my heart feels lighter. I'm sure you've experienced something like that before, too. If you are listening right now and you find yourself in the middle of a hard season, maybe you're struggling with loneliness, exhaustion, grief, uncertainty. I want to encourage you with this truth. God's goodness is not absent in our suffering. Sometimes it is actually through the suffering that we experience God's sustaining presence more clearly. Isaiah 43, too says it the best. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. God is with you. God is forming you, and God is sustaining you. As I close this last episode of season five of Whatever is Excellent, I want to invite you to cultivate a life that celebrates God. Consider where you have seen God's goodness recently. How can you intentionally celebrate his faithfulness this week? Romans 8 28 offers a beautiful reminder for us, no matter what season we are in. Let this verse encourage you and propel you into a life of celebrating the faithfulness of God. Romans 8.28. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. A life that celebrates God's goodness becomes a powerful testimony. May we never forget that God is steadfast and good and loving and merciful. If nothing else, we can celebrate who he is today and every day.