Seasons of Life

I must start out by saying that I love autumn in Virginia...it is a beautiful time of year with magnificent views of the Blue Ridge Mountains as they seem to create a different artistic masterpiece every day with their evolving hues!  Our office is nestled at the base of a small mountain and, this week, our windows have become frames for the elaborate scenery of nature signaling that we are almost at the peak of this season.

Every Wednesday, the staff of Family Life Services, the Liberty Godparent Foundation, and the Liberty Godparent Home meets first thing in the morning for devotions and prayer.  I was slotted to share this morning and was convinced, yesterday, that I had a great devotional to share with the ladies from a recent daily devotional from Proverbs 31 Ministries (as a side note, you need to sign up for these if you haven't already).  As I was getting ready this morning, God began to speak to me and let me know that He had something different that I was to share.

I pulled out my Soul Care Bible as I was eating breakfast and a few flips of the page revealed the timely words that I was able to share with our staff this morning about the "Seasons of Life" by Freda Crews (drawn from I Chronicles 23). 

In the last year and a half, I have personally experienced a consistent series of transitions:  transition to marriage, job transitions for my husband, and a combination of leadership changes within our ministry.  If I may have a moment of transparency with you, I must say that I am one who doesn't welcome change with excitement but have come to realize that change can be very positive even in the midst of uncomfortable circumstances.

Life is a series of transitions...that is a reality for all of us.  We have a choice to make regarding our response to change:  we can resist it with everything that is in us and probably become miserable in the process or we can decide to be aggressively engaged in becoming the people God intended us to be by learning to navigate through the transitions of life.

With God's help, how can we handle life transitions and come out a better person on the other side?  Better yet, how can we come through these changes with our joy, faith, and hope still intact?  Here are some simple and practical takeaways that I needed to hear more than anyone this morning:

1)  Accept the reality that life transitions are inevitable.  Although we can prevent or avoid some transitions, other we cannot and are beyond our control.  Acceptance allows us to embrace life with its seasons of growth and development.

2)  Allow change to work.  Transitions help us to become what God wants us to be and He is in control of every situation, manipulating it behind the scenes to accomplish His purpose in our lives.

3)  Persevere - Hang in there during the difficult circumstances!  God leads us through circumstances that give us the opportunity to grow strong spiritual roots so we can withstand the storms of life.  Character can be cultivated when we persevere through the pain of change.

4)  Wait for the purposes of God to unfold.  Trust that He is faithful and will reveal a purpose to the painful transitions in life.

If this meets you right where you are today, you are not alone.  My heart was stirred as I related each of these reminders to my personal life and our organization.  I must choose to go "along for the ride" knowing that it's not a chaotic, out-of-control ride with no plan, but rather God is in control of each hour of every day and already knows the end result of my circumstances.  Be encouraged, friends, that He loves us and is holding you close in the midst of the storm.