Pastor’s Corner: “Don’t Miss God in the Transitions” Part II
Ecclesiastes 3:1 (AMPC) – To everything there is a season, and a time for every matter or purpose under heaven:
Change can cause upheaval, confusion, stress, anxiety, and fear. It only makes sense that our first inclination is to resist it. When we’re faced with new challenges and new opportunities, we instinctively want to head back to Egypt where the leeks and onions were at least something we could count on! But change is more than a part of life. Change is life. Whether it is change in our health, career, role, or priorities, change is inevitable. The only thing that is unchanging is God Himself.
Living things grow – growing things change – and there is no growth without change. In other words, transitions are actually necessary for growth. How we respond to transition and change in our lives affects how we grow. We can flourish, prosper and thrive or we can struggle flounder and wither. Just as transitions in music bridge melodies, and transitions in language create understanding through smooth flow of ideas, transitions in our lives are the connections that tie our life together. So how do you make good, healthy transitions?
Remember, it’s not all about you. Maybe God has you going through what you’re going through so you can encourage others. This is often a struggle for us. When we’re feeling overwhelmed in the midst of a transition in our life and trying to figure things out or fix them, the last thing we do is focus on others. But doing this will produce great growth in our lives. Philippians 2:3-5 (NLT) – 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
Embrace what is. I’ve heard it said that life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent your response to it. You can choose to resist and fight change or respond to it positively, embracing it. I am still learning to live each day to its fullest with no regrets and no fears, seizing each opportunity to respond to change in a positive way.
Let go of what was. In order to embrace something, you need to release whatever else is in your hands. We think we have a right to hold onto things of this earth as if they are rightfully ours. I love what Corrie Ten Boom said: “Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open.” We cling to the past, the comfortable, and the familiar. We should seek to live in the moment, freely embracing the opportunities that God wants us to experience.
Anticipate what is coming. During times of transition, the things which stir up feelings of fear and anxiety are the same things that create excitement, freshness, and anticipation. We shouldn’t forget that our God is a God of new beginnings. New covenant (Jer. 31:31; Luke 22:20) – a new commandment (John 13:34) – new life (Acts 5:30) – new creations (2 Cor. 5:17) – new name (Isa. 62:2; Rev. 2:17) – new self (Col. 3:10) – new birth (1 Peter 1:3) – the hope of a “new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1; Isa. 65:17, 2 Peter 3:13) – His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness (Lam. 3:23). Why wouldn’t a God of new beginnings want to do something new in each of our lives?
Newsflash, you can actually trust God with your life! Often times, the most blessed times of my life have been during trials because it forced me to draw nearer to the Father heart of God. Deuteronomy 31:8 (NLT) – 8 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Without question, transitions are unsettling. But God never told us to settle ourselves here on earth. Life is a transition until we reach our eternal home. In the meantime, God wants to do something new in our lives. He wants to do something new through our lives. He wants us to experience new adventures, new people, new ministries, and new opportunities to help prepare us for eternity with Him. I don’t want to miss out on all He has for me because I can’t accept what is or because I’m stuck in what was. It’s a matter of choice. Isaiah 42:9-10 – See the former things have taken place, and new things I declare: before they spring into being I announce them to you. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth.
In His Grace,
Pastor Hamilton