Seasons of life are so unpredictable. They come and go in a heartbeat, either creeping up slowly or pulling the rug out under your feet. It's as if we should expect them by now although if you are like me, you spend half your time wishing you could jump ahead into a new phase of life, or nostalgically linger in the past.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you.
Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.”
Psalm 32: 8-9
Are we willing to be led like sheep by the GOOD shepherd? With out resistance? With out jumping ahead to the next thing in life?
The Lord has picked me up and placed me in a new season of life. I have been sensing change for a while, but I have been resisting it with all that I am. I have been too comfortable, and with that comfort comes resistance.
Leaving Bozeman for training camp was hard. The two weeks previous I legitimately had no control over my emotions. I was anywhere from ecstatic to be finally starting World Race adventures to mourning leaving Bozeman. These last 5 years have been my “spiritual training grounds” if you will. I have grown in the Lord so much and have gained so many incredible friends and family, that the thought of leaving that all behind was distressing.
During the flight to Atlanta, GA a Jason Upton song played on repeat over and over again in my head.
To you I give my life, not just the parts I want to.
To you I sacrifice, these dreams that I hold onto.
Yes, His thoughts are higher, greater, and stronger than mine. The first couple of days of training camp were a blur meeting new people, and adapting to living with out a clue as to what was going to happen next. I wavered between excitement over new friendships to jealousy in knowing that they got to go home and see friends again after camp. The third night inour speaker Ron Walborn spoke on grieving the past seasons of our lives. We must grieve past seasons and let them go in order to effectively move into and embrace the present/future. Instead of experiencing deep sadness as I expected, the Lord instead began to push me to wake up!
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:18-19
The time for mourning is over. Move past the cross and into the way the Lord has made for you!
We move from glory to glory to glory to glory! Heaven on earth is to live circling the throne of the King, continually falling on our knees in wonder as we arrive at a new angle of the Lord. He is doing a new thing. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to settle for anything less than His highest for me.
A word was spoken over us about entering into new seasons. In 1 Samuel, Hannah prays earnestly to the Lord to give her a son. When the Lord grants her request, she dedicates her son (Samuel) to the Lord’s services. Each year, Hannah visits her son bringing him a new robe that she has made. Little kids grow up fast. I am sure Hannah had to be strategic about making sure to make that new robe too big for Samuel at first so that there was room to grow over the course of the year. By the end of the year, odds are it was fitting quite snug and maybe getting a bit too tight.
The Lord is offering me a new sweater. The old one was getting a bit too tight. It was too comfortable and there was no longer room for growth. He is offering me one that may seem a bit large at first, but gives space to learn and expand into more and more. It takes getting vulnerable. You have to take off the old sweater to get into the new one, and the new one may be a bit awkward at first.
It is worth it. He is worth it. I never want to stop growing. So bring it on new season, in all of your mess and discomfort. I am ready to move deeper, jump farther, increase in trust and get to know my Father that much more.
