Most of you know about the massive change of seasons in my own life over the past 6 months (leaving Merchant Band, changing roles at IHOP, and a few other things). Several people around me are also in a season of transition. It happens: we all know that life changes and goes up and down.
What we learn about God, others and ourselves during those seasons is of vast importance. What is something you have learned during or after a season of transition in your own life?
{Shawn} said:
The season change for me began when Merchant Band was in the studio doing our last album and a few hiccups caused me to realize how much un-percieved pride and selfish ambition I had.
A few more things unfolded and it became clear the Lord was leading me out of the band and onto something else. The biggest thing I have caught onto and am learning to walk out is the issue of meekness and humility.
I am still learning to not pursue my own glory or honor. I want to be faithful in the eyes of the Lord through all the seasons of my life, no matter if I am on the stage drumming or speaking in front of 15,000 people or pacing in the back row of the prayer room.
Posted on April 13, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Molly Mosack said:
One thing I have learned through transition is that God is after our heart, not necessarily making our life comfortable. If the two are at odds with each other, guess which one goes?
He is fighting for our greatness.
Sometimes we are promoted or demoted because we deserve it. Sometimes we are promoted or demoted when we don’t deserve it. I’ve learned that my perception of the issue at hand is usually not the real issue at hand.
I want my response to be one marked by my understanding that God does what He pleases and He is good. He is for me. He wants me to stand in front of Him with confidence and joy at the end of my life, and so transitions, demotions, promotions, etc. are invitations to grow in greatness, i.e. embrace humility, love God and others in those times.
My two cents from my short 28 years of experience so far.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 1:24 am
Ronni said:
One thing I’ve learned is that sometimes you have to walk alone with God. If you listen to the people around you all the time, it takes your focus off of His face. Sometimes you have to walk alone, just you and God, and you have to learn to be okay with that.
I’ve had all my ministry taken from me, and forced into a hard transition, but it has thrown me in the face of God, and for that, I’m SO grateful.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 2:13 am
Armen said:
Ronni, that was a truly encouraging comment to read.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 3:19 am
Theresa said:
God has shown me over and over His faithfulness. When I didn’t understand things around me, or wanted things my way, sooner or later the Lord has revealed His plan and purposes.
I have heard the leaders at IHOP talk about His leadership being perfect and that is So true. Is He trying to glean character and integrity out of us, definitely. Is it fun and light hearted, not usually. Is it worth the process, it has been for me.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 7:02 am
Hollie said:
I agree with Theresa, I’ve learned that His leadership is perfect. In my recent transition, I was looking in a couple of other directions for the next step to take, the next door that would open to me. But He snuck up on me and dropped something even better right in my lap that I never even looked for.
Also, I’ve come to realize that while there are specific “moments” of transition, pretty much everything every day is a transition. We are constantly being prepared-aka moved toward-the next “season.” Life really is a progression, even when it seems stale and stagnate.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 7:19 am
Stephanie said:
When I feel transition occurring I immediately want to be done with the old season and into the new one. But God is teaching me that I have to embrace the present with all of its uncomfortable shifts, even if it leaves me a bit squirmy.
I think passing the test in a time of transition is more about allowing God to meet you in the middle of change. Can I enjoy Him when I feel the consequences of unfamiliar territory or do I balk under the awkward and sometimes unclear moments?
That is a hard lesson to learn for me, but I’m so glad that the Holy Spirit leads us through times of transition and does not make us experience it on our own! He is a good friend, worthy of my trust.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 7:32 am
Anna said:
I totally agree with Molly. He is after our hearts, and He especially uses transition to get them!
Julie Meyer said, “God doesn’t do fair… He does what He wants to”. He’s not weighing everything all the time like we do; He just uses every little season to grip our hearts.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 8:50 am
Benjamin Wood said:
In the times of transition i have noticed that no matter how hard I try to get through the transition on my own accord, it never works. Until i reach the place where i throw up both hands and cry out to God saying it is yours i am done i cannot do this, until that point i am moving in my own strength and that is not how God designed promotion or transitions to work.
He designed them to be a time of full dependence on Him and not on your own strength. I love it. Even though i never learn and still am stubborn and try to do it all on my own first instead of just placing it in His hands in the right away. I am stubborn. But aren’t we all to some degree. No one is compleatly dependent on God all of the time. If you say you are, you are lying.
P.S. don’t lie. Liars go to hell.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 10:02 am
{Shawn} said:
@ Molly: You said what I was trying to say, but a little bit more articulately.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 12:34 pm
Robin said:
Seasons of transition are always so hard for me. I feel like I am blind, deaf, and stupid. I flail about and freak out and it’s just ridiculous. But God is so faithful. He is always there guiding and directing, and when I am obedient, boy the lights come on and there’s a parade in my honor. I mean, God makes it abundantly clear that I made the right decision and gives me so much confirmation that I stand in awe of Him. Though the transition is hard, the next season is always worth it because it has always been more of Him. A constant drawing of my life and my affections to Him and I know I am looking more and more like Jesus all the time.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Molly Mosack said:
Shawn - you articulate these truths with your life. Your example in the past season is a testament of God’s faithfulness and your tender heart. You done good!
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 1:23 pm
David said:
God can encounter me and love like no one else. This season is my first year+ of knowing God, and He continually reminds me and teaches me about what he can do for me, in that He delivered me from pornography and has shown me His love. This is the best season I have ever had. God is good!
David
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 5:26 pm
david said:
I learned from reading the first comment that Shawn is unusually humble, godly, and tender and it’s a privilege to hang out with a man of such excellent character.
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 8:20 pm
ben said:
I learned that no matter how crazy things get God is in control. I am in a big time of transition right now and first I was a little angry at God cause I didn’t but now I realize that he works all things out for good and I should trust trust in Him.(sorry for the run-on sentence)
Posted on April 14, 2007 at 10:33 pm
Sharon said:
I just had something that sort of felt like demotion a few weeks ago, but now I feel like my heart has opened up and started to flow. I’d say it’s been a good trade. He who called me was faithful. And my momentary light “affliction” is producing an eternal weight of glory. I love being in a house of prayer.
Posted on April 15, 2007 at 1:05 am
Michelle Van Loon said:
Within the span of a few months, I’d had my heart reoriented after a visit to KC, resigned from a staff position at a church, and watched God sell our house in 24 hours as we wondered if it was His will to return to our hometown, Chicago after 9 years in WI. (Throw in life with teenagers and a married daughter who’d moved her family in with us temporarily.) I’m a writer, so I sat before God writing and waiting. I still am. This wasn’t one of those neat, tidy transitions where everything worked out like with happy endings and celebrations it does in a sitcom. Though some things happened quickly, other parts of the transition linger in our lives even 3 years later. I can say without question that what I’ve been waiting for most is, simply, Him. Not a result, not a new, improved ministry. Just Jesus. I think this is all He’s wanted for me all along.
At the start of this transition in my family’s ives, a friend handed me a horrible-looking gray business book entitled “Managing Transitions: Making The Most of Change” by William Bridges. I tossed it aside for months. Business? Bah! Boring! But when I picked it up and started reading it a few months into this season, I was astonished at the way the author accurately described the process and the value of transition. Tons of spiritual application, even though it is meant to be a book about transitions in bursiness.
Posted on April 15, 2007 at 9:19 am