Deuteronomy 31:8
“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.’” NLT
There have been times when people, especially Christians have suffered great blows by other people in surprising ways for them. What seemed like surprise attacks left them devastated, depressed, and wondering if they will ever recover. While those situations are bad and we need to seek our Healer and Restorer of our soul. There are some things we need to consider to avoid some of those situations.
As a Kingdom principle, many times we get comfortable in a situation or season in our lives and we forget or are not aware that the Kingdom of God moves, and when He moves, He wants us to move with it to the next season of our life and destiny. Before the transition, God sends us signs to let us know that His grace for us to be in that place (or a job, a certain relationship, a ministry or business, a position or other situation), is coming to an end, and the favor with people, recognition, source of income, or other things we enjoyed for that season of our life will dry up.
This means that, after seeing the signs , such as things that don’t go as easily as they used to, or the favor we used to have with some people diminishes, or even things start to break down around us, if we don’t seek Him to show us how to transition to the next season He has for us, He May allow situations where we get fired from the job, or suffer a break up in a relationship, or are confronted with rude awakenings because the reality could be that we were the ones who missed the signs that it was time to move on. And God uses situations or people to bump us out of the last season and into the new one when we’re not paying attention.
Psalm 37:5
“ Commit your path to the Eternal; let Him direct you. Put your confidence in Him, and He will follow through with you .” VOICE
It is also true that even if we see the signs, many of us get fearful about taking the step of faith in the direction God may be leading us to trust Him to manifest His supernatural provision for the transition to the next season. Our fear may also stem from having to leave behind those things or relationships, places or positions we had grown accustomed to.
One reason we may have to leave those things or people behind could be because they were the result of our fleshly desire or ambitions and not God’s will for us. Another reason could be because God is showing us that He has something different and better for us that fits into the scheme of His purpose for us even if we don’t understand it yet.
Other times our reluctance to move on lies in the fact that, in our soulish and relational dysfunction, we refuse to allow access to the next stewards God appointed for the possessions, the people, resources, or positions He told us to let go of. Those things are no longer needed in our life but are needed for those God assigned new stewardship over them.
The problem then comes when, in our lack of knowledge of God and His ways, we become jealous and make our selfish ambitions take precedence over His will for us and for those we’re commanded to give access to what they need to function in their new season. Our opposition and obstruction of their access make us stumbling blocks for us and them.
Romans 14:13
“Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother.” ESV
Sometimes we won’t see the next step until we have taken our step of letting go of what cannot go with us. This can indeed be scary. I remember when God told me to leave my job in 2001. He spoke to me in May of that year that I was to leave that job by the end of November. I liked being independent with my money and it scared me when the month of November came. I had not seen what else He had for me yet, so I was reluctant to obey.
I even asked my mentors for advice, but they told me things that were contrary to God’s instruction for me. Thus, it took me several days of God giving me signals that it was time to move from that job for me to finally submit my letter of resignation. My bosses and other people begged me to not quit, but I knew those were distractions from the enemy to keep me in the wrong place, at the wrong season of my life, and with the now wrong people.
I’m thankful to God that He helped me overcome my fear of the unknown by explaining to me what would happen if I stayed at that job past November of that year. He told me that His grace to do that job which manifested in favor with my bosses and my co-workers, a good salary, and good working hours and benefits would run out at the end of November. His grace for me would no longer be for what had become an old season for me.
Jeremiah 29:11
“For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” AMP
Instead, I needed to prepare with His guidance for what my new season would bring. Having this understanding greatly helps me and it is this wisdom from above that helps me pay attention every time I see signs that one season is ending and I nee to seek the Lord to show me how to position myself to enter the new one.
James 3:13-18 is very explicit in explaining to us the difference between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom from above. It tells us that walking in God’s wisdom helps us to be humble, pure, peace-loving, gentle at all times, willing to yield to others. And this wisdom surely comes in handy during times of transition into a new season of our life.
It helps us be merciful to others, and it is the fruit of our obedience to God. It turns us into peacemakers that preoccupy ourselves with planting seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.
On the other hand, following the wisdom of the world which opposes certain changes and forward progress out of complacency, leaves us full of hurts, bruises, and bumps that have not been tended to and given to God to restore with His healing touch.
Many of us have been good at covering this reality with boasting and lying. And as the Scripture says, this is not God’s kind of wisdom. And what we see is the works of our flesh and demonic oppression that leads to disorder and evil of every kind. The Scripture says,
“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.
“For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.” NLT
The same thing happens to those of us who don’t know we have a purpose from God to fulfill, or that He sees us beyond where we are since He has a plan and a future of hope for us. Without this awareness, we don’t know how to approach our daily living and the different seasons in our life. Then, when surprises come perhaps, because we missed the signs of our coming transition, we’re left hurt, wounded, confused, treating things and people the wrong way, and also having physical, emotional, relational, or financial consequences from it.
Let me stop here to let you know that the information shared here is by no means to condemn you, but to encourage you that there’s a way out of the pain, brokenness, and frustration you suffer from going through circumstances that could be avoided and are the result of your lack of knowledge and understanding of the ways of God’s Kingdom.
I also want to help you understand that Kingdom living on this earth is different than the way the world lives. Besides, most of us are creatures of habit that love to settle and get complacent in certain situations, especially when they are the result of our great accomplishments. We want to enjoy those benefits for as long as possible.
If we landed a great job we want longevity with that company and hope to move up the ladder of success within that company for years to come. But with God there are always more amazing things to live, learn, and accomplish to fulfill our destiny and for His glory alone. There’s also the possibility that God uses these times of transition to help us grow in our spiritual, emotional, and relational skills.
We were made to grow into maturity mentally, physically, spiritually, and relationally, and not have the same dreams and aspirations we had when we were children unless we tapped into the destiny God has for us from an early age. Most people don’t tap into this knowledge about the ways God leads us towards our destiny. If we have tried to build a life that didn’t include God’s input and will for our life, unfortunately, by the time we gave our life to live for Jesus, as adults, we have a ton of bumps, cuts, and bruises to show for going in the wrong direction before.
But God wants to help us be set free from every bondage and hurt so we can reach the divine potential for which He created us and reach our destiny firmly planted in our relationship with Him and learning to relate to others He has called us to serve with love and compassion. And also knowing that some relationships are but for a season, a task, or for a lifetime. With God’s direction and this understanding, we can make sure to pay more attention to the signals before a transition.
And as always, to God alone be all the glory.
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