Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were a blessing and Jesus was glorified. I’m excited to start off the New Year with a Book Giveaway Drawing for Janet Thompson’s newest book Mentoring for all Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness.

Don’t let the word “mentoring” throw you. You are a mentor and a mentoree whether you know it. You share with others what you’ve learned and you learn from others what they share. Janet’s book will bless you and I’ll share below how to put your name into the drawing. And here in her guest post you’ll gain some wisdom to encourage you. So read on!

Janet’s latest book

When You Don’t Like Your Life Season

by Janet Thompson

We’ve all heard, “You’re just in a season, it will pass.” But what do you do until then . . . or worse . . . it never passes?

Good and pleasant life seasons are wonderful and it’s easy to think God couldn’t possibly want what we perceive as a bad or unpleasant season for us. Right!? Yet, Ecclesiastes 4:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

We try so hard to hold onto those feel-good seasons, and there’s nothing wrong with that—we should have times of joy, dancing, laughing, loving, and peace. But when the not-so-good times roll, we need to remember that God hasn’t left us. He’s walking right beside us through the mourning, weeping, uprooting, and war seasons.

God never abandons His children—a message we need to share with each other and with the culture, especially during today’s challenging times. TWEET THAT!

Reasons for Not Liking our Life Season

Usually we don’t like a life season because:

  • It’s painful or uncomfortable.
  • We’re jealous and like what someone else’s life looks like more than our own life.
  • We’re living with the consequences of our, or someone else’s, behavior or decisions.
  • We’re discontent or discouraged.
  • We’re not sure if God still cares about us.
What would you add to the list?

We all have difficult seasons we just want to end. Or maybe we’re in a wonderful season we never want to end. Most seasons we have no control over, even though advertisers set us up to fail by assuring if we just drink, eat, use, own, the right products, or meet the right people, every season will be heavenly. The aging clock will stop and somehow God made our life to be different from everyone else’s life.

But that’s a lie and those who buy into it will never be content because everything God lists in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 is a season everyone will experience.

What to Do

The first thing to do when we don’t like our life season is ask God how He wants us to deal with it, and then listen carefully to how the Holy Spirit answers. It’s that still small voice we hear guiding us when we cry out to God. We might not know how to get through the season, but God does. He’s often talking but we’re not listening.

A Christian was asked how he knew what God wanted. Did he have a direct line to God? I thought,”Yes he does! Every Christian has a direct line to God the world doesn’t understand, and one we don’t use nearly enough: praying to Jesus who hears every word and the Holy Spirit who intercedes for us even when all we can do is groan.”

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27

Next, seek out a Christian woman who has experienced this season and can mentor you in how she made it through like only someone who has been-there-done-that can. Incredible comfort comes from spending time with a mentor who understands your painful season!

God doesn’t want us going through any season alone; but He also doesn’t want us listening to anyone who isn’t giving us biblical wisdom. That’s why in Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness,, every season has Scripture for the mentor and mentee, or for any two women, to study together that applies to the various issues they might experience in any life season.

Being a mentor doesn’t mean you have all the answers or the Bible memorized. TWEET THAT!

It simply means you’re willing to share your experiences, search God’s Word, and pray together with another woman. Then one day, she can reach out and help lift up someone else going through a similar season. “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Thank you, Janet, for sharing with us. I’ve learned so much from you over the years. I praise God for your ministry.

What have you found helpful in being a “mentor”? And what attitude on the part of being a “mentoree” have you found important to receive the wisdom another can share with you?

To be entered into the drawing to win Janet’s book, make any comment in the comment section of my blog or write me directly: KathyCollardMiller AT gmail DOT com. I will draw the winner on Sunday evening Jan 14th.  (I’m sorry that only those with US addresses can win.)

Janet Thompson

Janet Thompson is a speaker and author of nineteen books, the founder of Woman to Woman Mentoring and About His Work Ministries. Her latest release is Mentoring for All Seasons: Sharing Life Experiences and God’s Faithfulness. Visit Janet at www.womantowomanmentoring.com where she writes a weekly blog and monthly newsletter.