There are a lot of new faces here, so I want to start by saying welcome! Please feel free to join in the conversation at any point if you see a topic or idea that interests you. 

This post is special for a couple reasons. For one, it’s Status Quo Questions’ 50th post! It also celebrates this blog’s three year anniversary. It’s been quite the journey so far, and we have some exciting things ahead. 

If you’re new here, I like to do a recap each year looking back at what we’ve learned and how far we’ve come. It always blows me away how much God can do in just one year, let alone a lifetime. 

I’m a few weeks late with this recap, but one of this past year’s lessons has been learning to not spread myself too thin… It’s funny how wound up we can get over self-inflicted deadlines, isn’t it? 

Anyway, here’s a recap of what we learned in Year 3 and a look at what’s ahead:

Lesson 1: God is faithful through all things.

Year 3’s posts started out with And Yet I Will Praise You. In it, we looked at times in the Bible when life was rocky, yet God’s people chose to trust and praise God through it and God saw them through to the other side. A couple months later, we looked at how God’s ways in teaching us are different from our own in Story Time: The God Who Is Stronger.

I started to notice God changing things in my life around May, which led to the posts Just Say Yes and When the Winds of Change…Change Again? Together we looked at what it’s like to say yes to new seasons and to surrender to God when we feel them changing, which was followed by a post by that very name: To Be Surrendered Before The Father. 

Lesson 2: There is strength in being there for one another. 

Another lesson that was front and center in Year 3 was the importance of having grace with one another during difficult seasons. That was the theme of To The Woman Who’s Waiting To Be Set Free and From A Christian Who Had To “Isolate” The Past 1.5 Years. 

The past couple years have made it easier to see and harder to hide the obstacles that each of us face. There are going to be times when we aren’t our usual selves, whether from something society as a whole is going through (i.e. the past two years) or something that we’re working through personally. We may stumble under the pressure or battle weariness as we push through, but there is hope even in those types of seasons.

Knowing this, we recognize that the same struggle happens with the people in our lives too, and it reminds us of the importance of having grace with one another. Not a “grace” that keeps sin and strongholds in the dark, but a real grace that recognizes when someone is walking through a challenging time and offers extra patience, support, and encouragement.

Walking with grace doesn’t always need to be complicated. Sometimes it’s as simple as prayer, a gentle answer, and an encouraging word.

Lesson 3: There is hope in every season.

Finally, we wrapped up the year by looking at what it means to be in “impossible” seasons and how to handle seasons that seem covered in obscurity. 

In King Asa And The Impossible Situation and A Different Way To View The Impossible, we saw how God can work through anything. It may not always be the way we expect, but we can trust that those who put their hope in the Lord won’t be put to shame. 

We also looked at King David’s life and the experiences that sharpened his leadership in the years before he became king in The Impact Of Obedience During Obscure Seasons: Lessons From King David. Although difficult and confusing seasons may discourage us, Scripture tells us of time after time when God used seasons like that for good. Tough seasons won’t last forever. As we cling to God, He sees us through. 

A Look Ahead for Status Quo Questions 

I’ve been trying to get better at not sharing too many details about future plans because they usually change with time. While I’ll hold some of these details a little longer, I did want to share with you all some of the ways God’s been changing my heart about this blog. 

Status Quo Questions started a little over three years ago, but the motivation for it began long before that. The original intent was to address issues in the church and modern day Christianity that were commonly brushed off as “just the way things are.” That thinking caused issues in my own life, and it made me angry thinking about how many other people were being hurt and misled because of that mindset. 

That was what motivated me to go for my master’s in Ministerial Leadership—I wanted to have a stronger, Bible-based foundation to speak from. While being frustrated over something is a great motivator to finish a degree, it’s not a good foundation to address issues constructively. Fortunately, the work God was doing on my heart didn’t end at graduation.

Some of you have been a part of the lessons we’ve learned here as we’ve looked at how amazing God is. Learning more about God and His character sure softens your heart in ways that no boisterous motivation or frustration can. I will forever be thankful that God chose to take me the “long way” the past five years.

Looking ahead, I’m hopeful that it may be time to start writing more along the original purpose of this blog, but we’ll see. Regardless, there have been new opportunities lately to connect with other writers and share my writing outside of this blog. It used to take me hours to write a simple 500 word college assignment, so I can’t help but smile seeing how so much of my life touches writing now. It’s incredible what God can change in His timing, isn’t it? 

All of this to say, I’m curious to see what’s ahead. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of the journey so far. There were some stretches where I’m not sure I would’ve continued writing if it hadn’t been for your messages and support. Here’s to 2022!

Here’s to our journey, friends! Here’s to exciting days ahead.