When everything goes sideways
Some weeks just don’t go the way you planned. You start out optimistic, coffee in hand, and then the interruptions pile on: the flat tire, the grumpy email, the computer glitch that steals half your day. Before long your eye is twitching, you’re annoyed that people even breathe too loud, and you’re wondering how this became your life.
Sound familiar?
Let me tell you where I found hope this week:
A Time for Everything
In Ecclesiastes 3:1–8, King Solomon gives us a beautiful image of the seasons we all face: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to weep and a time to laugh… (read full chapter here)
It’s a reminder that life is seasonal, constantly shifting between highs and lows. Some seasons feel like fresh spring mornings; others feel like late-night Walmart runs for hydrogen peroxide because your dogs got sprayed by a skunk (story for another day.)
After describing the many seasons of life, Solomon drops this truth in verse 11:
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”
I don’t know about you, but when life feels chaotic, I don’t usually think “Wow, what a beautiful moment!” I think “God, what on earth is going on?!
But Solomon is telling us:
God works on a bigger timeline than the one we see.
Beauty is in the becoming, not always in the moment.
Eternity is already written in us, even when we’re knee-deep in broken plans and frustrating days.
Shifting Perspective in Real Life
Here’s the tension: we can’t always see the full scope of God’s work, but we can still choose how we show up in the season we’re in.
A small perspective shift I’ve been practicing: when things go sideways, I pause and think, “This isn’t the whole story.” Because it isn’t. My irritation isn’t a headline. My delays aren’t the end of the chapter.
That pause helps me remember that what feels wasted to me might actually be weaving into something bigger and more beautiful that I can’t see yet.
Maybe you need that reminder too.
A Small Way to Shift Perspective Today
Next time you feel the tension rising (whether it’s a broken plan or just too many loud breathers around you 😅), take 30 seconds to breathe and say this out loud:
👉 “This moment isn’t the whole story. God has planted eternity in my heart, and He sees the beauty I can’t yet.”
It won’t fix the problem in front of you, but it will anchor you in the God who’s bigger than it.
Want More Everyday Encouragement?
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We’re in this together—learning to see beauty in the middle of the mess.
