Photo by Misael Garcia
The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people, and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”
Genesis 12:2
This was Abraham’s word; a time had come for him to transition into what God had called him to. For Abraham to do what God was calling him to, he had to leave behind everything he knew and start over.
A bit extreme, but sometimes God has to completely separate us from our environments to do with us what He intends to. Our environment will suck the faith and God out of our lives, so He calls us to separate.
Other times, the separation doesn’t require we move to another country or city. But we are required to reduce our interactions with the people in our environment to protect what God is doing in our lives.
At some point in our lives, we will find ourselves in transition. We will find ourselves in a season where we have to leave some things behind and enter into new seasons and new things with God.
Here are a few signs that we are in transition:
A Holy Dissatisfaction
When God is preparing to shift us into new things, He allows us to get to a place where what used to be great; what used to be comfortable and familiar; what we used to do with ease becomes frustrating and dissatisfying. We begin to feel like there is more than where we are. We begin to long for something new. Whenever we find ourselves feeling like this, it’s a sure sign that God is preparing us to transition into new things. Sometimes a holy unrest will come on us in the middle of things we don’t want to change. But because God wants us to go higher, He will lead us into a holy dissatisfaction with where we are.
An Uncomfortable Separation
Sometimes we get too comfortable in some seasons that God has to yank us out because we are holding on too tightly. When a season has ended there will be things, and people that God will require you to leave behind. It can be difficult because sometimes we have invested ourselves in these things. It’s heartbreaking, but we lean on grace to help us say goodbye and keep moving forward with God. We can be tempted to keep things that God has told us to lay down in transition.
I have attempted to do so, especially in relationships. I’m an all-or-nothing kind of person, and this is how I approach relationships and friendships. I will fully and wholeheartedly invest myself in them. So when God says time is up, I want to drag what I have invested myself into the next thing. Whenever I have done this, the relationships became so strained and unpleasant that it was clear it was time to walk away.
At the time I didn’t understand why they couldn’t go with me. Now in hindsight, I can see that these relationships would have hindered my following God wholeheartedly. They would have also hindered my faith in God in seasons where I needed to go by blind faith.
If you are in a season of separation, do yourself a favor and leave it behind. God is faithful to fully restore to us what we lose in one season in the next. Often, it is usually better than what we left behind.
Clear Instructions.
Abram’s instruction is clear. He is to leave everything behind and go. When it’s a season of transition we will have clear instruction on how we are to go about it. Don’t leave a season if you don’t have clarity and surety that God is calling you out of because you need God to back up your faith. If you aren’t sure you should transition, wait on God, you will never regret waiting.
I have seen people quit jobs and run towards things that weren’t God’s will for their lives and I saw the tension and discomfort of having to return to doors they had banged closed.
If you leave without God, you will return to the season you are in. don’t self-promote yourself out of a season that God hasn’t promoted you out of. We will not rise above God’s grace for us. The next thing will require greater faith and grace so you better make sure you are equipped before you get into it.
A Holy Tension
Sometimes, transition looks like, “Get up and leave, this season is over, “ and that’s it, simple and clear. Other times, the transition will be a slow fade.
God will begin to slowly wean us out of the season we are in. He will also slowly lead us into the next season. Transition can last a month, a year or it can take two or even more time. We have to be sensitive to God’s guidance because we want to be walking in step with Him. I love Galatians 5:25, since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
In this kind of transition, following His lead is key. We have to make sure we stay alert to hear the next instruction to navigate this difficult time. The slow fade transition can be hard because we have to live in the tension of… You know that you can no longer be here, but you are not quite there…yet.
If you are in a long transition period, lean on God and keep your eye fixed on Him. If He begun it, He will complete it. Don’t run ahead of God’s timing and try to create your own paths. Trust Him to lead you to the next thing gloriously.
Open Doors.
Another sign will be that doors will effortlessly open. We don’t have to struggle, we don’t have to fight. He will make a way for us to go through when the season to enter into new doors arrives.
So, if you feel like you are in transition and no new doors are opening to back that transition. Maybe you are a bit ahead of God and you need to exercise some patience.
Sometimes, we can be tempted to believe we are ready for things that we aren’t quite ready for. God knows when we are ready, not us. Maybe you need to go back and prepare for the next season well. Remember our preparation is the key to success in the next season. if we enter a season unprepared we may not do what God wants us to do, we may also not finish well. God is more concerned with who we are becoming than where He is taking us because who we are becoming will be the thing that sustain us in the next season.
Keep trusting God in the transition!
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